KARACHI Over one hundred cooperative housing societies in the province are defrauding their members by allotting land to them that has been procured on a 30-year-tenancy lease, rather than on a 99-year proprietary lease, according to officials in the Sindh cooperation department.
Furthermore, senior officials say the fraud is being perpetrated with the collusion of low-ranking officials of the provincial cooperation department.
This is a criminal act, said cooperation department registrar Nasir Abbas Soomro, speaking to Dawn on the issue.
The 30-year lease used to be given by DCOs for the promotion of agriculture, with the land meant for poultry, dairy or crop-based farming. You are not allowed to erect any boundary walls on such land, or even to carry out any major construction. The rights inherent in a 30-year lease are for tenancy, not for ownership.
The registrar provided Dawn with a list of 34 cooperative housing societies, 22 audited and 12 un-audited, which are suspected of committing this fraud on their members.
Explaining how the system would work, an official at the department said that the cooperative housing societies in question were run by promoters or by the builders' mafia.
He said that a large amount of land would be procured under a 30-year lease, and then members of the society would be offered the land for purchase.
When asked how members would not be made aware of the issue when they saw the documents for the land, the official said that the 'promoters' of the society would produce fake documents convincing the purchasers that they were buying land legitimately. It is only when they attempt to have their building plans approved, after purchase, that they realise that the land they have bought is not under the normal 99-year lease, the official said.
He said that some of the cooperative societies had been registered with the cooperation department, but many others were operating completely independently, which is illegal. He added that the department was unaware of even the office addresses of some 80 to 90 cooperative societies.
The layout plan of these housing societies has to be approved by us, and of course we would not allow the layouts to be passed if we are aware of some fraud regarding the lease. So the promoters have private architects draw up the plans for the societies, and then distribute these to members purporting them to be legal documents.
It is basically a fraud with the members of the society, and it is occurring with the collusion of lower staff at this very department, said the source.
Elaborating, the source said the collusion took the form of concealment, whereby lower staff would not allow senior officers of the department to become aware of the fact that certain cooperative societies were perpetrating fraud based on 30-year leases with their members. He said that the officers would make it appear as if everything was above board with the society in question as far as the department was concerned, even if this was not the case.
Notices issued to 34 societies
In a bid to bring an end to this practice, the cooperation department has now issued notices to 34 cooperative housing societies known to be indulging in this practice to explain their positions.
If they do not explain their position to our satisfaction, registrar Soomro said, we will inform the higher authorities, and if we receive authorisation from them, we will then register cases against these cooperative housing societies. As this is a case of internal maladministration as well, we will inform our own board, our secretary, and will then shut down the accounts of these cooperatives and seize their land. Everything will be closed, and advertisements will be published in the newspapers informing people not to deal with these societies.
Asked if there was any hope for people who had already bought land under a 30-year lease to have their land regularised (converted to a 99-year lease), the registrar said that the option would be available, but the relevant fees would have to be paid to the Board of Revenue. He said that the managing committee of the cooperative housing society concerned could gather the funds to do this through the society's own accounts, or from members.
When asked if this was likely to happen, however, as according to the department's contention the very establishment of these cooperative housing societies was mala fide, he conceded that it was unclear as to whether the victims of the fraud would be able to recoup their losses unless they themselves were able to pay for the regularisation.
A list of cooperative housing societies that have been issued notices regarding this matter appears below.
Un-audited societies Al-Raee Cooperative Housing Society, Zainab Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Madar Cooperative Housing Society, Sunder Cooperative Housing Society, Supreme Cooperative Housing Society, Chohan Cooperative Housing Society, Taj-i-Malik Cooperative Housing Society, Al-Mashad Cooperative Housing Society, Usmanabad Cooperative Housing Society, Sane Insurance Workers Cooperative Housing Society, Badar Cooperative Housing Society, Al-Muzzamil Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Jamil Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Waseem Cooperative Housing Society, Bagh-i-Rajput Cooperative Housing Society, Al-Rehan Memorial Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Shahbaz Cooperative Housing Society, Government Employees Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Iftikhar-ul-Haq Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Fateh Cooperative Housing Society, All Workers Cooperative Housing Society and Shan-ul-Haq Cooperative Housing Society.
Audited societies Gulshan-i-Sakina Fatima Cooperative Housing Society, Sui Southern Gas Employees (Sports Club ST) Cooperative Housing Society, Pak Model Town Cooperative Housing Society, Al-Airline Cabin Crew Cooperative Housing Society, Qadri Cooperative Housing Society, Gulshan-i-Sanobar Cooperative Housing Society, Livna Cooperative Housing Society, Pak Chanar Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Zaib-un-Nisa Cooperative Housing Society, Ya-Rehman Cooperative Housing Society, Saydan Cooperative Housing Society and Gulshan-i-Malik Town Cooperative Housing Society.
