CAA maintains it had offered the land to be leased out for construction of a marriage hall and had even received earnest money from a successful bidder. PHOTO:FILE
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has summoned a senior official of the National Logistics Cell (NLC) to respond to a petition by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) demanding rent payments for a piece of land near Chandni Chowk.
During the hearing on Monday, Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed of the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench summoned NLC’s Project Director Chandni Chowk Flyover in court on January 4.
In the petition, filed by the manager of Benazir Bhutto International Airport on October 15 this year, the CAA has asked the NLC to make rent payments amount to Rs6.7 million for the 53 kanals of land along Rawal Road which it is using for the past six months to install machinery and prepare materials for the construction of Chandi Chowk Flyover.
Commissioner Rawalpindi, in his written reply to the court, maintained that during a meeting held at his office, it was left upon NLC, CAA and Punjab Highways Department to make arrangements for the use of CAA’s land.
However, CAA’s counsel argued that the NLC had agreed in principle to pay the rent in the presence of Punjab government officials and later had even asked the authority to reduce the rent amount.
The counsel maintained that CAA had time and again sent notices to NCL, requesting it to clear the dues. But after it did not get any response from the NLC, it filed a complaint with the Waris Khan police station as well as a civil suit for recovery of the rent amount.
The authority has asked the court to direct NLC to vacate its land and pay the due rent amount.
CAA maintains it had offered the land to be leased out for construction of a marriage hall and had even received earnest money from a successful bidder.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 25th, 2012.
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