Shady deal: CDA record of ‘loss price’ sale of commercial plot disappears

Civic agency seeks FIA help in locating file.

ISLAMABAD:

Whether it is negligence or the work of some unscrupulous elements, the disappearance of important files from the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) record rooms has become a norm, and the responsible parties always escape scot-free.

A civic agency file detailing the sale of a commercial plot at a throwaway price recently vanished under suspicious circumstances, compelling city managers to seek assistance from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to locate it, sources said.

After exhausting all options to trace the file, the CDA on Friday asked its administration wing to formally request FIA help in tracing the file.

The file details a deal in which the CDA handed over possession of a commercial plot to a firm at a throwaway price on July 2, 2010.

Plot No 1-C on Bhitai Road in F-7 Markaz was offered for auction by the CDA without open bidding, as only prequalified parties were allowed to participate in the auction.

According to the results of the auction that was held behind closed doors, the 2,394.17 square yard plot, which was originally a CDA inquiry office, was sold at Rs252,000 per square yard despite the CDA having valued the land at Rs450,000 per square yard, the sources said.

The firm, which also owns a large residential and commercial property in Blue Area, was offered the plot at a total cost of Rs 603.3 million. After the auction, the CDA also approved the layout plan for the plot, which included the construction of a 15-storey shopping mall.

In April 2012, during a CDA board meeting chaired by then-acting CDA chairman Mian Waheedudin, the authority approved handing over of physical possession of the said plot to the builder because the CDA had been facing serious problems in paying staff salaries. At that time, the firm had to pay two remaining instalments amounting to Rs180.9 million and an overdue payment penalty of Rs3.8 million to the CDA. However, the board also waived the overdue charges and the plot was handed over to the firm after payment of the outstanding dues.

The sources said that the whole record has now vanished and the deal cannot be investigated without it.

CDA Spokesman Asim Khichi said the FIA has been asked to investigate, and  “in light of the FIA’s findings, stern action would be taken against those involved in [the disappearance]”.

He said that the authority was striving to introduce a transparent mechanism to safely store records so that such incidents could be avoided in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2013.