A two-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal on Friday directed the secretary Labour and Manpower to submit a detailed report within two weeks over the mismanagement in buying land for the Employees Old-age Benefit Institution (EOBI) in Rawalpindi. Secretary Labour and Manpower Arif Azeem submitted that the EOBI had bought 1000 kanal land against Rs 2.33 billion for the EOBI, but the possession of land was not given as some part of it was under the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and the army depot.
But efforts were underway about the occupation of land, he added. Justice Javed Iqbal observed that a huge amount had been invested in a fake property, adding that the EOBI had wasted money of poor people without having any feasibility of the project. He further said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had already given his remarks on the issue. He told the officials that the hearing would be held on a daily basis after receiving the report. Aitzaz Ahsan, counsel for EOBI, argued that apparently there was no violation of law in the deal and he would ask his client to avoid similar land deals with such institutions. Later, the hearing was adjourned for two weeks.
