CDA left with two holidays to clear mist on F-9 Park

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Who approved commercial ventures, SC asks CDA

* CJP tells Elahi no one will come to his ‘rescue’ if he tries to cover up illegal acts
* Ramday says even a mosque cannot be built on unauthorised land, what to speak of Aiwan-e-Iqbal
* Tells Amin Lakhani not to pretend to be a ‘layman’ after getting purpose served

By Masood Rehman

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman to provide all documentary evidence about approval for construction of commercial buildings in F-9 Park, known as Fatima Jinnah Park.

The court in its order said that ‘minutes of all the meetings and proceedings held for awarding commercial ventures in F-9 Park be submitted along with the original master plan of the park till Monday’.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing an application filed by PML-N former senator Saadia Abbasi highlighting violation of the apex court’s 2006 verdict banning all kinds of commercial ventures in public parks.

The court expressed dissatisfaction with the documents and the master plan submitted by CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi and asked him to furnish original master plan and minutes of the CDA Board meetings, which approved land to Sizza Foods (Pvt) Ltd, Nazria-e- Pakistan Council (NPC) and Citizens’ Club.

The chief justice asked what was the reason to convert residential sector of F-9 into a park and who had approved it. The chairman said it was decided by the CDA Board. He said after dozens of efforts, the design for park was finalized.

He said, first a Japanese company, JICA, and then Nayyar Ali Dada in 2004 was engaged to further modernize the master plan for F-9 Park.

He said as a result of advertisements on July 9, 2004, two companies Sizza Foods and Sheikh Traders applied, however the contract for setting up food outlet was given to Sizza Foods.

Justice Ramday said the court did not have objections that why McDonalds was given place in F-9 Park, but its only concern was that whether the procedure adopted for it was transparent or not.

The CDA chairman said that for inviting tenders, the then chairman of the CDA made the decision himself and they just had a ‘chit’ of it in the record. The CJ said if the CDA affairs were running on ‘chits’ and they don’t do documentation?. Elahi said initially the process started with a ‘chit’ but later a committee was formed to approve the bids.

The CJ told the chairman that in order to oblige others, do not take its responsibility as no one would ‘come to your rescue for those acts which were done against the law’.

Justice Ramday said it seems that everything was under the table. He said prima facie, there was no transparency and no procedure was followed for the allotment of land to different people in F-9 Park. “If the bid had been given openly, it would have earned CDA billion of rupees,” he said, “We will not permit commercial ventures for elites at the cost of public money and on public parks.”

To a court’s query, CDA chairman said that total cost of the Citizens Club project was Rs 1.2 billion and the authority had already spent Rs 575 million on its construction.

Meanwhile, Kamran Lahsari, a former CDA chairman, who is now petroleum secretary, appeared before the court on notice and sought time for submission of his reply pertaining to the questions raised by the court.

Advocate M Bilal, counsel for the NPC, told the court that the site in the Park allotted to NPC was for a library and provision of a library was given in the master plan of F-9 Park. He said that they have built a library, which contains hundreds of book on Quaid-e-Azam.

Justice Ramday said don’t tell us all these and just inform the court whether the land was acquired as per plan, because the court would not even allow construction of mosque on unauthorized land and ‘you are telling us that it was acquired for construction of Aiwan-e-Quaid’.

Afnan Kundi, counsel for CDA, said the Citizens’ Club is entirely owned by CDA. He said the total cost of the Club is estimated at Rs 1.2 billion. Justice Ramday said that the SC would not permit if the place is used for commercial purpose as according to reports the Citizens Club will have 48 suites, cigar room, tennis court, parlour, gym for men and women. “Park is a park and not a commercial venture,” he said.

Anwar Kamal, counsel for Sizza Foods, said there is a ‘Hot Shot’, which has shopping centre, snooker club, gym, video shops and marriage hall. The court expressed annoyance over it and asked the chairman to provide relevant documents.

Amin Lakhani, chief executive officer (CEO) of Sizza Food, who had sent a letter to former President Pervez Musharraf containing scandalous remarks about the court, appeared and stated that he did not have any intention to disrespect the court. “I am a layman and tender my unconditional apology for that,” he said.

Justice Ramday promptly observed: “You got your purpose served by sending letter to the president (regarding approval for establishing McDonald in F-9 Park) and now you are pretending to be a ‘layman’”. According to applicant Saadia Abbasi, the construction of the fast food outlet on 6,000 square yards inside the Fatima Jinnah Park was in breach of the SC ruling. Later the case was adjourned till Monday.