Following SC directions: Land of Gun and Country Club to be demarcated

Management body to meet today to devise a mechanism to run the club

ISLAMABAD: Following a direction from the apex court, the chief land demarcation agency has started work on tracing the physical boundaries of the Gun and Country Club (GCC) in the capital, with the task expected to be completed over the next fortnight, officials have told The Express Tribune.

“Once this demarcation process is complete, then a host of issues would be automatically settled such as the non-possession of land — which was a real bone of contention between the PSB and CDA since the former never formally received control of land from the latter,” Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Spokesperson Azam Dar told The Express Tribune.

Dar said that the Survey of Pakistan (SoP) has started work on demarcating the land currently under the possession of the club and the task is expected to be completed over the next 10 to 15 days.

He noted that the SoP was the premier national surveying and mapping organisation of the country which had started the process on Saturday.

Dar explained that in 1975, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had leased 145 acres of land to the PSB for a period of 33 years. The PSB was liable to pay the CDA an annual ground rent of Rs72,000 for use of this land.

However, with a wide storm drain, spread over an area of 38 acres, passed right through the centre of the leased land. Moreover, 1,000 feet wide right-of-way of the Kashmir Highway also passed through this land.

Per a court decision, storm drains, roads and parks are part of the common property.

When the lease expired in 2008, it was extended for another 33 years with the annual ground rent revised upwards to Rs343,000.

However, the possession of the land was not handed over to the PSB by the CDA despite repeated requests by the former.

Officials in CDA’s Planning Wing, though, told The Express Tribune that the PSB probably has control of an area larger than the 145 acres it had officially leased. This area, officials estimate, could be as much as 217 acres.

The CDA official said that according to law, possession of the extra land must be handed back to the CDA along with all the facilities which have been built over it.

Avoiding a direct conflict, Dar said that the PSB will be willing to accept the decision a neutral arbiter (the SC) without any hesitancy.

On July 9, 2018, while hearing a case relating to the illegal construction of the GCC and marriage halls on land meant for the PBS, the Supreme Court had declared the club as illegal had ordered to hand over possession of the venue to the sports board — since they had originally leased the land.

The bench had further directed the SoP to demarcate the 145 acres of land on which the club was established and look into possibilities of continuing employment for the club’s workers.

The Inter-Provincial Coordination Ministry was told to resolve the matter of returning membership fees to patrons.

Meanwhile, a management committee created to run the club is set to meet for a second time on Monday with Interprovincial Coordination (IPC) Ministry secretary in the chair. The meeting is expected to deliberate over the ways and means and devise a methodology to run the club.

The management committee has been directed to submit its recommendations before the apex court in the fourth week of August.

The club had been created in 2002 under the then president General Pervez Musharraf. It was supposed to have been a joint venture between the PSB and the club’s administration.

The club was supposed to have shooting ranges, which were earmarked for use in the 2000 South Asian Federation (SAF) Games.

The games, though, were cancelled in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. The ranges were finally used when the games came to the federal capital in 2004.

However, it became a separate entity following a notification issued by the then president Asif Ali Zardari.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2018.