- SC acts against parliamentarian, NPF for illegal land sale
- NPF officials unduly favour Anjum Aqeel
The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued notices to the National Police Foundation (NPF) and former Parliamentarian Anjum Aqeel Khan over the illegal sale of 45 kanals of NFP land for very cheap rates.
The notices were issued by a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Gulzar Ahmed during the hearing of the said case.
The bench expressed its displeasure at the NPF officers’ conduct, which privileged individual over institutional interest.
The bench noted that a former NPF managing director (MD) made a secret deal with Anjum Aqeel Khan just one day prior to his retirement to favour the said parliamentarian.
It was also noted that the NPF sold 45 kanals of land without considering the property’s market value.
During the hearing, Anjum Aqeel Khan and former MD NPF Zahid Mehmood appeared before the court and presented their stance over the issue.
Former MD NPF brushed away the allegations against him, saying that the agreement with Khan was made by the NPF administrative committee collectively.
He further stated that a sub-committee had been formed to probe corruption involved which included the interior secretary, Islamabad police inspector general and the housing director.
The chief justice remarked, “How could a committee make such an insane decision of selling a piece of land for only Rs 20 million instead of the actual price of about Rs 2 billion?” He termed this ‘criminal negligence’ by the NPF and its managing director.
The bench declared that throughout the case’s hearing, NPF officials had favored Anjum Aqeel Khan unduly.
NPF counsel Syed Asghar Ali stated that currently the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had banned the transfer of land otherwise they would have acted on the court’s directives.
The SC adjourned the case till 27th May.
