CAA vs NLC: Court issues fresh notices to NLC

CAA informs the court that they sent rejoinders time and again to the NLC, which were ignored.

RAWALPINDI:

The National Logistic Cell’s (NLC) lax approach to vacating Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) land near Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) earned it fresh notices on Monday.

The CAA approached the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench asking for the early hearing of its petition, which was filed a month ago. The petition has been pending with the high court with no response received from the NLC, despite multiple court notices.

Justice Ali Baqir Najafi issued fresh notices to the NLC managing director (MD) and the Rawalpindi commissioner while directing the office of the high court to schedule the CAA petition for hearing in the next week.

CAA Senior Legal Advisor Obaidur Rehman Abbasi told the court that the NLC might not pay the agreed amount of rent before vacating the land. The NLC owes Rs6.7 million in rent to the CAA.

All efforts on the part of the CAA airport manager at the BBIA including complaints with the area police and a civil suit in court to recover unpaid rent as well as the land in NLC possession have not yielded any dividends thus far.

While acting as the contractor for the construction of the Punjab government’s Chandni Chowk Flyover project, the NLC encroached upon 52.65 kanals of CAA land to set up a concrete mixing plant. Later, the contractor delayed the signing of an agreement over the land with the CAA.

The CAA is due back rent from September 13, 2011 to March 12, 2012 for the land on Rawal Road, which is adjacent to Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

The CAA has argued in the petition that the NLC agreed in principle to pay the amount in the presence of Punjab government officials and later showed their readiness to pay the rent when the NLC submitted a written request to the CAA asking for a decrease in rental rates.

Recalling earlier unsuccessful efforts to get paid, the CAA informed the court that they sent rejoinders time and again to the NLC, which were ignored.

The NLC is currently building the 6th Road Flyover in Rawalpindi. Although it nominally falls under federal government control, there is a strong military presence in its administration. It has recently been in hot water after a Rs1.84 billion scam was uncovered in which three retired generals and some civilians are being investigated.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2012.