Ploy to grab KPT land worth Rs72 bn in full swing

[Naveed Yaseen]

Dogar court was supposed to help grabbers
By Kamran Khan
KARACHI: In another brewing mega scandal, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) is facing tremendous pressure from Islamabad to withdraw its claim of ownership over 3.6 million square yards of precious land adjacent to the most expensive Clifton area in favour of less than a dozen individuals, according to an investigation by this correspondent.

Real estate dealers in the provincial metropolis estimate even the current depressed real estate market would fetch at least Rs72 billion for this deal, while an imaginative international marketing of this chunk of lank could earn the government in excess of $1 billion.

In the current scenario the Karachi Port Trust is apparently trying to protect its original ownership on this land, popularly called “Mai Kolachi” for port and city development while strong power players have pressured the port authority to surrender its claim in favour of less than a dozen individuals, the so-called claimants of this land.

Under clouds of severe non-transparency and dubious circumstances, these individuals claim they were allotted the same 3.6 million sq yards of land by the Sindh Board of Revenue in early 90s. This preceded a controversial transfer of the same land from the KPT to the Sindh government under a series of disputed orders from successive governments throughout the 90s.

The Karachi Port Trust maintained that the Sindh government had no authority to allot this land to private individuals because the transfer deal was not fully complied and the transfer orders were illegal.

The matter is now in the superior courts and the last Sindh High Court order allowed the KPT to maintain the status quo. Several other inter-related cases are also pending in the court of law.

During the 90s, the matter was the subject of an exhaustive probe by the Federal Investigation Agency followed by the Ehtesab Bureau of Saifur Rehman and finally by NAB. All three investigations concluded that the transfer orders of this land from the KPT to the Sindh government were unlawful and some of those involved in the process were prosecuted, including a former KPT chairman.

According to the court documents, following individuals claimed ownership of this controversial piece of land through the Sindh government allotment orders: M/s Sajawal; Mst Basran; Rafiq Pirbhai; Muhammad Amir; Taj Muhammad; Muhammad Jamil Sheikh; Ali Muhammad Shah; Abdul Rauf; Muhammad Hasan Dhangi; and Asif Mustafa. There is no answer to the question as to how and why the then-Sindh government decided to allot this multi-billion rupee land to the above mentioned individuals.

With the case pending in the court there was no active development in the case until last year when a senior Sindh government official posted in a civic agency in Karachi apparently approached the claimants of Mai Kolachi land with offers from a very important power player to arrange a complete settlement of this case through all government departments, including the KPT and a final settlement through courts. This was the time when the Dogar courts were alive and kicking, according to several people who participated in the discussion.

At least four of the 10 claimants of this land, when contacted by this correspondent, confirmed the deal offer made by the Sindh government official and offered to provide full details, including taped telephone conversation on this subject to an independent and powerful probe commission, if the Mai Kolachi land case is to be probed.

Several people having intimate details of the negotiations that took place between the so-called claimants and the power players said some verbal and written agreements also took place that also involved partial transfers of the already controversial ownership of land.

These sources said the deal ran into severe strain as the movement for the restoration of Nov 3 judiciary gathered momentum early this year and before the critical court element of this land deal could be settled, the government was forced to revive the independent judiciary.

“We had outright assurances that the Sindh High Court and subsequently the then-chief justice Dogar would dismiss the KPT case, but things suddenly turn sour on the day of the long march when announcement was made for the restoration of judiciary,” said one of the controversial allotees.

The case sprung into focus on Wednesday last when more than two dozen Kalashnikov-touting gunmen clad in Khaki Shalwar Kameez barged into a small segment of this 75 acres plot and claimed ownership of the Clifton marriage hall, a temporary facility allowed by the KPT.

A KPT press release on the subject mentioned that these armed people who swiftly took control of the area were led by an individual called Dr Dinshaw Ankelsaria, who also identified himself as an adviser to the Sindh chief minister.

Dinshaw Ankelsaria, informed KPT sources said, also called Ms Nasreen Haq, a highly regarded KPT chairperson and claimed ownership of the land with a promise that: “She would soon hear from Islamabad also” and she did hear non-stop calls from who’s who of Islamabad.

While a stream of calls were landing at the Chairperson Nasreen Haq’s office from Islamabad, the KPT’s call to Karachi police to vacate the government property from armed men fell on deaf ear until the media swung into action and the armed men left the place without being questioned about their antecedents.

While the armed men led by Dr Ankelsaria have left the occupied premises, but knowledgeable sources insisted the matter was far from over and sooner or later the KPT and its chairperson would have to withdraw their official claim on this land or she would be shown the door.

As dozens of armed people left the occupied land around 10pm Wednesday night, it was not known if these armed people were part of Dr Ankelsaria’s private army or he had hired them from somewhere.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Karachi Wasim Ahmed, however, insisted that the armed people carried licensed Kalashnikovs, though no independent account is available to suggest the police that visibly sided with the armed occupiers against the KPT authorities ever checked licenses of the alleged encroachers.

Several independent officials — both in the Sindh Government and the KPT — are of the view that resolution of the matter was a simple issue if both decide to settle the case in public interest whereby this government property be offered for open auction through an organised marketing campaign under an entity jointly managed by the KPT and the Sindh government and both share the massive earnings and use it for public good.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_32