ISLAMABAD: An officer of the civic agency, who was exonerated by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) after an internal inquiry, is also among those who have been booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Feb 1 for ratifying a layout plan for a housing society located in Sector E-11.

It is relevant to note here that the Medical Cooperative Housing Society in E-11 is accused of narrowing the width of a nullah that led to flash flooding in 2021 and left a mother and her child dead. The plan which sanctioned the narrowing down of the nullah was approved by the CDA in 2012.

Subsequently, a fact-finding inquiry was held which pointed out officials involved in the processing of the file and suggested a departmental inquiry against the said officials.

An inquiry to fix responsibility was started in light of the recommendations made by the fact-finding team. All accused, including Dr Zafar Iqbal, were issued charge sheets by Naveed Elahi, the then-member planning. However, the authorised officer exonerated the deputy director general, Zafar Iqbal. Mr Elahi also issued a letter – dated September 21, 2021 – and withdrew the charge sheet against the said officer after it was pointed out that he resisted the approval of the layout plan through multiple dissenting notes.

Dr Iqbal says charges against him were withdrawn by authorised officer

In light of the allegations against the CDA officials for allegedly manipulating the layout plan, the case was referred to the FIA, which registered an FIR against the former member planning, director general planning, director planning, project manager – all are retired now – and against Dr Zafar Iqbal, who was serving as a deputy director in 2012. A town planner has been booked in the case. Currently, all of them are on pre-arrest bail.

Speaking to Dawn, Dr Iqbal, who is the most senior officer in the planning wing, said that he had opposed the plan through dissenting notes, and after going through the entire file in 2021, Mr Elahi -- the authorised officer -- had withdrawn the charge sheet against him.

“I did nothing wrong, noting on the file is self-explanatory; I had written two dissent notes. The member planning had granted the approval but I did not sign the approval letter or the approval plan. Even when I became a director, I issued a cancellation letter regarding the layout plan in 2016.”

According to Dr Iqbal, the charge sheet was issued against all officers who processed the file pertaining to the housing society. However, upon my defence and perusal of the relevant record, the charges were withdrawn, he said, adding that he would fight his case in court. Dr Iqbal said he informed the FIA about his dissenting notes, but he was still booked in the case.

In 2007, the civic authority approved the layout plan of the housing society. At that time the width of the nullah was 40ft, but in the ‘ratified’ plan in 2012, the civic authority approved a layout plan which approved the width to be 18ft. Similarly, around 40 residential and commercial plots have been earmarked in the said society Street 2 which lies on the bank of the nullah.

On the other hand, the FIA’s FIR dated Feb 1 stated that during the course of its inquiry, it has been established that the aforementioned officials of CDA with mala fide intentions illegally processed and approved the layout plan without prior NOC. It said that the previous layout plan of the said society was cancelled on the basis of the unavailability of land, despite the fact that the required land was not in possession of the society. The accused, society president Chaudhry Shahid Yaqoob, with mala fide intentions presented the rectified layout plan before the accused CDA officers, knowing that the society did not possess the required land but still the rectified plan was approved.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2023