ISLAMABAD  -    The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to file review petition against the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan in BNP Pvt Case in January this year where the court had restored lease of Grand Hyatt land and directed the firm to pay Rs17.5bn over eight years.

 According to the sources in the Authority, In January, the Supreme Court had restored the lease of the plot meant for a luxury hotel that was cancelled after the lessee built and sold residential apartments.

The CDA had cancelled the lease of the 13.5 acre plot to M/s BNP in July 2016 due to a number of other violations and irregularities as well. The SC on January 9 set aside an Islamabad High Court order in the matter and restored the lease, directing the private firm to pay the CDA Rs17.5 billion over eight years.Buyers of the apartments built on land for luxury hotel include the sitting prime minister, Imran Khan.

The IHC had upheld the cancellation of the lease and directed the Federal Investigation Agency to proceed against the officials responsible for leasing the land and relaxing rules and extending favours to the company in post-bid changes. The company had challenged the IHC decision in the SC. According to the documents available with this scribe, the Estate Management-II of the CDA has prepared a summary in consultation with the CDA’s Law Wing to recommend the CDA Board to accord approval for filing review petition against the SC orders. It is to mention here that 24 civil appeals were filed in the SC against the judgment of IHC dated 3 September 2018 regarding allotment of land to M/s BNP Pvt Ltd measuring 13.5 acres.

The Estate Management is of the view that the matter is of sensitive nature and huge interest of the Authority is involved therefore the matter needs to be placed before the CDA Board for decision to file civil review petition against the order. It is to mention here that earlier the case was referred to the federal government by the CDA Board for appropriate decision which could not be decided and in the meanwhile order of the SC arrived. The detailed judgment has not yet been issued by the SC.

The buyers of these apartments included Prime Minister Imran Khan, former chief justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani, Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Federal Ombudsperson for Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Kashmala Tariq. The CDA leased the land to M/s BNP in 2005 to build a luxury hotel by Jinnah Convention Centre. The lessee instead built 240 luxury apartments.

The CDA had terminated the 99-year lease for the land due to violations of CDA bylaws and the rescheduling of outstanding dues. The civic agency has also sealed the site for the hotel for various building and layout plan violations.