Alleged misuse of land: Court asks DHA to submit lease of the land in Phase-VIII

Petitioner alleges DHA has launched two projects which were originally amenity plots.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court directed the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on Tuesday to submit the original records relating to lease of the land in Phase-VIII, where it has launched two major residential and commercial projects.

DHA launched two projects, Creek Terraces and Creek View, which are being financed and developed by the Ms Creek developers, M/s BF Property and Construction and the AKD Capital.



A resident of the society, Zahidullah Khan, has taken the authority as well as the builders and financers of the two projects to court.

In October 2004, the DHA issued an Expression of Interest for these two projects from renowned developers, said the petitioner, explaining that these projects comprise residential unit buildings and a commercial area.

In his lawsuit, the plaintiff said that out of 43 acres, 25 acres have been given to Creek Terraces and 18 acres to Creek View. “The original master plan of the land, issued by the DHA, shows amenity plots for a park, schools, sewerage treatment plant and a graveyard,” the plaintiff said, adding that the amenity plots were designed for the benefit and usage of general public.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, argued that the amenity plot cannot, in any way, be converted into residential or commercial property. “If anything, the land can only be reallocated for another amenity,” he suggested.

Earlier, the court had restrained the DHA and builders from carrying out constructions of the projects in question. This stay order was, however, later modified by the court which temporarily allowed the constructions - subject to the DHA proving that the land was not originally allocated for amenity purposes.

On Tuesday, Barrister Ahmed said that the original lease, on the basis of which DHA acquired the title to the land in Phase-VIII, has not been placed before the court for it to go through and decide the matter.

DHA’s lawyer Abid Zuberi said that apart from the three plans, which are on the record, no master plan was available, adding that all planning was made subsequent to the lease. Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui ordered the DHA lawyer to produce the lease of the land in Phase-VIII so that the controversy could be decided once and for all. The hearing was adjourned till December 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2013.