K-P House sealed on 'lease expiry'

In an unexpected turn of events that kept the federal capital on edge over the weekend, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) sealed blocks of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) House on Monday for failing to renew its lease.

According to CDA sources, multiple notices were sent over the past 10 years for violations of building rules and non-renewal of the lease agreement, but the K-P House management ignored them. Neither the arrears were paid, nor the lease was renewed.

The K-P House was in focus on Saturday during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest, which it had planned at the D-Chowk. A big caravan of supporters was led by K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who reached Islamabad and then disappeared.

Gandapur made a speech to the protesters in the capital and then went to the K-P House. Reports emerged later that Rangers and Islamabad police raided the premises to arrest the chief minister.

However, the government confirmed the raid but denied that Gandapur had been taken into custody. On the other hand, there was no news for around 30 hours as to where the chief minister was, until he reappeared in the K-P Assembly on Sunday evening.

The CDA sources said that fresh notices were issued to the K-P House management in February and in June, but both notices were ignored and the management did not submit the no-objection certificate.

Finally, as per law, the source said, Special Magistrate Sardar Muhammad Asif and Assistant Commissioner Abdullah sealed the blocks of the K-P House on Monday on expiry of its lease.