Increase in covered area: CDA restrained from razing farmhouses

Civic agency’s chief to submit report on farmhouses exceeding 12,500sq.ft.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday restrained the capital’s civic agency from bulldozing construction in excess of the covered area specified in the original by-laws on 201 agriculture farms. 

A three-judge bench of the SC asked Attorney General (AG) Munir Malik to submit a report on agro-farms after consulting the government and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials on the master plan.

It was wrong on the part of the CDA to increase the covered area for houses on farmland originally allocated for producing fruits and vegetables for the capital, the bench observed.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, said that the extra constructions were raised after the change of rules by the CDA.

It observed that initially the area specified for construction measured 4,580 square feet (sq.ft) but this was increased to 12,500sq.ft. in 2004. The bench was of the view that the constructions raised by owners or lessees in addition to the area authorised by the CDA was not their fault as the authority amended its rules subsequently and allowed extra covered area.



Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed directed the CDA chairman to present a list of farms that have covered areas measuring 12,500 sq.feet or more within the next two weeks and ordered the civic agency to issue notices to farmhouse owners with covered areas in excess of 12,500 sq.feet.

“The principle of locus poenitentiae should come into force in this case and the irregularity committed by CDA should be given legal protection for the time being,” argued the AG as he tried to convince the court to halt the removal of excess construction on the farms after CDA amended the rules. A number of farm owners also requested the court through their lawyers not to bulldoze excess construction, since it had been permitted by the CDA.

During the hearing, CDA Member Planning, Mustafain Kazmi, stated that the CDA board had decided to withdraw the relaxation in rules for covered area following the April 18 ruling of the SC directing that excess construction on agricultural farms should be razed.

Kazmi said that of the 350 farms, 19 had covered area exceeding 12,500sq ft, 201 were between 4,850 and 12,500sq ft, while the rest were under 4,850sq.ft.

He shared that according to the break-up of the covered area originally specified by CDA, 2,250sq.ft was reserved for the farm manager’s residence, 1,000sq.ft for an office block, 500sq.ft for a kitchen, canteen and bathroom, 500sq.ft for servant quarter, 500sq.ft for a shed for tractor trolleys and 100sq.ft for a guard room.

In 2004, the CDA board increased the limit for covered area on agro-farms after requests were received from politically influential owners.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2013.