Bowing to the pressure of thousands of employees as well as due to the fear of a suo motu by the apex court, Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Farkhand Iqbal on Friday cancelled allotments of 120 plots, which were recently doled out to the officers of Grade 17 and above. A couple of days back, the CDA illegally allotted 120 plots worth Rs 4 billion to its deputationists and other officers in the city’s prime sector, I-8. Every baboo was given 40X80 square yards plot worth approximately Rs 23 million. It is pertinent to mention here that under the CDA rules residential plots in a developed sector cannot be allotted to anyone as they are for sale through open auctions. The other day, the office bearers of the CDA Labour Union, at a press conference, exposed the CDA bosses for illegally allotting the plots and requested the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice for the cancellation of these plots.
Following this press conference, CDA Chairman Farkhan Iqbal on Friday cancelled allotments of the plots.
Sources said that before cancelling the allotments of these plots, the Chairman had sought the opinion of the CDA’s legal department. The legal department apprised the chairman that these plots were given in sheer violation of the civic agency’s rules.
The sources said that the law department also told the CDA chairman that recently some employees moved to the high court against the allotment of the plots in the developed sector, on which the court issued a stay order against the further allotments in any developed sector. But, the estate department of the CDA, while ignoring the court order, allotted plots to 120 officers. The CDA chairman issued a circular informing all the departments that the 120 plots which were allotted to officers in Sector I-8 stood cancelled. Interestingly, in the circular, the CDA chairman claimed that he was not aware of allotments of these plots and when the matter was brought to his knowledge, he ordered their cancellation. However, the sources said that the Chairman was very well aware of the move in the authority and he could not be absolved from the scam.
It is relevant to note here that the other day CDA labour Union General Secretary Chaudhry Yaseen in press conference told the media men that his union had been demanding allotment of plots to retired and in-service employees working in the civic agency for over 10 years but baboos never bothered to entertain them.
The sources said that currently there were 200 officers of BPS-17 and above in the civic body. The 120 plots allotted to them have now been cancelled.
The sources said that for holding balloting among the officers for 120 plots, the estate department held a meeting at Convention Centre, which was badly disturbed by low-grade employees. Later, baboos moved to Islamabad Club, they were followed by non-gazetted officers there too. And finally, the estate department held a meeting in Pearl Continental Hotel Rawalpindi, where they decided the matter.
