ISLAMABAD: In light of recommendations of the Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, the legal wing of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has barred Additional Legal Adviser Kashif Malik from appearing in all court cases related to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in all courts, according to official documents.
The move comes at a time when the Grand Hyatt Hotel inquiry is in doldrums as the last month an FIA committee headed by Additional Director General Wajid Zia demanded that the Grand Hyatt scam be shifted to the additional director general (ADG) of the anti-corruption and economic crime wing.
The decision on the subject is pending at the time of filing this story. It is pertinent to mention here that the BNP Group, responsible for the construction of five-star Grand Hyatt Hotel and two apartment complexes near red-zone in Islamabad moved to the Islamabad High Court over the cancellation of lease contract by the Capital Development Authority in August 2016.
The BNP Group submitted a petition through their counsel Barrister Aitezaz Ahsan. The application made the CDA chairman party and challenges the cancellation of the lease contract and sealing of construction site based on malafide intention on part of the civic agency. The court presided by Justice Athar Minullah held that the residential apartments on the plot and the purported sale thereof was illegal, void and in flagrant abuse and violation of CDA Ordinance 1960 read with the zoning regulations, building regulations and the building control regulations.
The Grand Hyatt scandal that jolted the Capital Development Authority revolves around the construction of the hotel and two towers of apartments near the red zone area. CDA finally sealed off the hotel in January 2017 and the owners moved the court for a stay order which was granted. Lately, the then CDA chairman admitted that Kamran Lashari, a chairman of CDA during military ruler Pervez Musharraf era, relaxed the rules in order to accommodate the ‘high rise’ buildings in the capital.
CDA maintains that the BNP Group committed serious violations during construction of which CDA didn’t know. Originally, a skyscraper hotel and two towers having apartment were to be built. Even after a decade of possession, the group built grey structures of the two apartment towers while no progress was made on the hotel building at all.
CDA Building Control Section Director Shafi Marwat spelled out the violations committed by the builder. Firstly, “they made more apartments than allowed as a matter of fact they doubled the number of the apartments,” he said. Secondly, “they sold the apartments when they were allowed to rent them out.” Thirdly, the construction of the hotel tower didn’t even start in a decade or so, he said. Marwat also said that the payment of installments were also rescheduled till 2026.