The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the proposed balloting of plots for Capital Development Authority (CDA) employees in I-11 Sector. It asked the civic agency to present the complete record to the court before further decision could be taken.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Jawwad Khawaja, while hearing the petition filed by hundreds of employees, directed CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi to clear his position on the matter before May 4.
Around 2,000 employees of the civic agency, who have paid dues for the allotted plots, expressed their wariness over the process of balloting. On their request, the court sought complete record of the allotment of plots and asked the city bosses to explain the criteria for the proposed balloting. The employees contented that CDA’s attempt to hold another balloting for plots in an occupied sector was “a futile exercise”. A representative of the employees said that we do not understand the need for further balloting when we did not get anything from the previous one.
Zahooruddin, an employee of CDA, through his lawyer Ahmad Kharal submitted before the apex court that CDA had allotted plots to hundreds of its poor employees in Sector I-11 back in 1990. “So far the authority has failed in giving the possession of these plots to them due to illegal occupation by the residents of katchi abadi over there,” he said.
He added that officials on deputation were offered lucrative plots in the posh sectors but low grade employees were totally ignored.
He contended that CDA was not willing to take back the possession of the plots from illegal occupants and it had also shelved its proposed operation against them.
The CDA Board has approved balloting of the plots for its remaining employees in the same sector that was under illegal occupation of foreign refugees and locals, he said.
The “selective balloting criteria” introduced by the CDA caused unrest among thousands of employees of the authority, the court was told. The complainant requested to the court that high officials of the authority should be directed to ensure retrieval of occupied land and then hold transparent balloting of the plots.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 30th, 2011.
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