Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad called for action against Sir Syed Memorial Complex because a private institution housed within the complex violated land regulation laws and sought reassignment of the amenity plot.
Capital Development Authority (CDA) documents show that the Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering (CASE) Chairman Dr Shoaib Khan had recently requested the Estate Management-II Department of CDA to grant fresh allotment for amenity plot 19, located along Ataturk Avenue in Sector G-5/1 for the centre — a private education venture.
“The authority may take action under clause 18(5) of Islamabad Land Disposal Regulations (ILDR-2005) if exceptional circumstances were not there,” the Directorate of Regional Planning (DRP) recommended.
The Directorate of Urban Planning (DUP) observed that transferring ownership of the plot from the Sir Syed Memorial Society (SSMS) to the engineering college was against the Islamabad Land Disposal Regulations-2005 (ILDR-2005) and land use planning parameters for public buildings in Sector G-5/1.
The DUP also added that the Supreme Court (SC) had previously issued orders the CDA and Building Control Directorate on non-conforming use of the land.
According to CDA records, the land was allotted to Sir Syed Memorial Society (SSMS). The Aligarh Old Boys Association in Islamabad had been running an educational complex on the land since 1984 to commemorate the 19th-century educationist and reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
In 2000, the SSMS had rented out a portion of the land to CASE institute which is operated by the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Taxila.
The Centre for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE) — an affiliate of CASE — also operates out of the complex.
CDA had issued orders to the society in 2011, which managed to secure a stay order against CDA directions by moving the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The stay order expired in 2015 and CDA issued another instruction on May 9, 2016, directing the society to shut down the CASE campus.
Since the society did not comply with the civic authority’s instructions, it was sealed on at least two occasions in the last two years.
