‘All depts involved in real estate business’

IHC summons representatives of CDA chief, deputy commissioner over housing societies

ISLAMABAD:

Representatives of the federal capital's apex civic authority chief and the district magistrate have been summoned to appear before the court today (Thursday) in a case on government departments building housing societies.

Hearing the case, a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), led by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, remarked that all government departments appear to be busy in the real estate business and of building private housing schemes.

"Where has the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) been empowered to engage in a business," the court asked, adding that the investigation body is tasked with probing such cases (of the overreach of powers and involved in real estate business).

Is the CDA a regulator or not, it further asked, stating that the city's environment has been destroyed (due to haphazard planning).

CJ Minallah further remarked that public service officials too were involved in the property business which is a cause for the rising crime rate in the city.

"This is a serious matter," the court observed.

On this occasion, officials of cooperative housing societies told the court that employees of the society have also constructed housing projects of their own.

Chief Justice Minallah said that it was not just employees but government organisations and departments were involved in building and operating these societies.

The petitioner's lawyer argued that land, which the FIA had bought for its employees, had been sold to the developer of a housing society.

The court directed the chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and deputy commissioner to appear before the court on Thursday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2020.