Chandni Chowk office: CAA takes NLC to court for not paying rent

Despite repeated promises and mediation, the firm avoided signing an agreement.

RAWALPINDI:

A judge on Thursday directed the National Logistics Cell (NLC) and Rawalpindi commissioner to submit their responses in three weeks on a petition filed by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for recovery of rent.

Civil Judge Malik Asif issued notices to the NLC and the commissioner to submit their responses by July 2, the date for the next hearing.

The CAA has taken the commercial entity of the army to court for not paying over Rs6 million in rent for using its land as a site office while constructing the Chandni Chowk flyover.

Filed by CAA manager through Advocate Bilal Shah, the authority has prayed the court to direct NLC to pay Rs66,91,344 as rent for the land measuring 52.65 kanals on Rawal Road near the airport.

Citing the NLC project director for the flyover and Rawalpindi commissioner as respondents, the plaintiff said the authorities have not been fulfilling their commitment to pay the rent.

According to the CAA, in a meeting held at the commissioner’s office September last, it was decided that the NLC would hire CAA’s land for a site office and place mixture machines to prepare construction material for the flyover.

In several letters written to the NLC and the commissioner, the CAA requested the respondents to sign an agreement for hiring the land but no progress was made despite the fact that rates had been worked out for the rent.

The CAA manger maintained before the court that the NLC encroached upon its land near Benazir Bhutto Hospital without a No-Objection Certificate, forcing the authority to write a letter to the company for finalising an agreement and payment of rent.

In subsequent correspondence, the NLC asked CAA to decrease the rent but the authority did not agree. When an agreement could not be reached at, CAA served NLC a legal notice after it had completed the flyover and started to remove its equipment from the site.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2012.