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The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its judgment in the Bahria Town implementation case.
Supreme Court sought a new report from the Survey of Pakistan on the demarcation of Bahria Town Karachi while taking notice of the occupation of more land than the allotted one.
Attorney General, instead of asking money for the federal government, requested to spend it through a judicial committee and said a committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge should be formed. He said all the money should be spent on the development of Sindh in a transparent manner.
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its ruling on the federal government’s suggestion about constitution of a high-powered committee to ensure transparency in the use of funds being deposited by the Bahria Town Karachi.
A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the Bahria Town implementation case and two separate applications for transferring the entire money deposited by the Bahria Town Pvt Ltd with the apex court to the federal and Sindh governments receptively.
During the course of proceedings, the court remarked that it reserved the decision on the objections of the Sindh government and the reservations of the federal government. The court would consider all the points in the written decision.
To a court query, Barrister Ali Zafar, counsel for the Bahria Town, said his client was supposed to deposit Rs 32 billion with the SC by end of July while it had deposited more than Rs 57 billion. His client had moved an application for relief in payment of installments due to the COVID-19 situation.
Justice Faisal Arab said that the hearing on the petition filed by Bahria Town to defer payment due to coronavirus would be held in September.
Noting that Bahria Town had deposited amount more than the installments, Justice Faisal Arab observed seeking relief was premature.
Ali Zafar pleaded the court to direct the Sindh government for allocation of the remaining land to the Bahria Town.
Justice Faisal Arab ordered the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and other agencies to conduct surveys and submit reports.
Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan said the amount deposited by the Bahria Town could not be used for ongoing development projects. This principle would apply to the federation and the province at the same time, he added.
On March 21, 2019, a three-judge SC bench, headed by former judge Sheikh Azmat Saeed, had approved Rs460 billion offer put forth by the Bahria Town to implement the apex court’s May 4, 2018 judgement in which it was held that the grant of land to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) by the Sindh government, its exchange with the land of Bahria Town and anything done under the provisions of the Colonisation of Government Land Act, 1912 by the Sindh government were illegal and of no legal existence.
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