59 plot seekers in NPF housing scheme still in the lurch

[Salman]

59 plot seekers in NPF housing scheme still in the lurch

ISLAMABAD: Even after making payments over 15 years back, 59 civilian applicants are yet to get their plots in the National Police Foundation (NPF) housing scheme in Sector E-11.

The plot seekers could not be accommodated in the housing project launched in 1997 due to the shortage of land and allocation of plots to undeserving persons.

And one month after the Supreme Court decision over the land issue between PML-N politician Anjum Aqeel Khan and the NPF, there is no respite for these 59 people.

On the other hand, the NPF officials sit relaxed as the apex court has forwarded the inquiry into the land scam to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

In mid-October, Mohammad Rafiq, the managing director of the NPF, told the Senate standing committee on cabinet division that the NPF would resolve the issue soon after the apex court judgment.

“We have guarantees from Anjum Aqeel in the shape of land and property. We will utilise this collateral and clear the dues of the 59 people who could not be given plots,” Mr Rafiq had told the Senate committee.

Despite the passage of 30 days of the apex court judgment, however, the NPF has not done anything to confiscate the collateral submitted by Mr Aqeel and settle the issue.

The NPF officials said they still have sufficient time to deal with Mr Aqeel. They expressed confidence that the matter would be settled in favour of the allotees.

“We still have around one month as per the apex court decision but currently we are busy appearing before NAB,” said Tariq Joya, the NPF director housing.

And Mr Aqeel is busy meeting his lawyers to prepare a review petition against the apex court judgment announced on October 31. “We have up to December 7 to file the review petition,” Mr Aqeel said.

“We had an agreement with the NPF in 2011 under which I had to provide 126 kanals to the NPF. Out of this land, 112 kanals is already with them. I transferred an additional 12 kanals in 2011 which, however, is yet to be handed over to them. Now there is an issue of only two kanals which will also be settled soon,” said Mr Aqeel.

The difference between the situation now and prior to the apex court decision is that earlier the case was being investigated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and now it has been transferred to NAB.

Raja Inam Amin Minhas, a lawyer who represented Mr Aqeel in the FIA court, said the order of the SC bench seemed against the basic principles of justice.

He said the Supreme Court in the earlier part of the judgment penalised Mr Aqeel but in the latter part asked the chairman NAB to initiate proceedings against him if he failed to provide the land to the NPF within two months.

The NAB officials are expected to file their report to the court at the end of December.

On the other hand, a NAB prosecutor told Dawn that after the receipt of the record the investigation team would prepare the reference against Mr Aqeel.

It may be noted that in July 2011 a case was registered by Zafar Iqbal Sabir, deputy director housing NPF, against Mr Aqeel and some former officials of the NPF for their alleged involvement in the Rs6 billion scam in the E-11 housing scheme.

The FIA in its investigation held the officials of the police foundation equally responsible for the shortfall of land provided by Mr Aqeel.

During the hearing of the suo motu case, the FIA told the apex court that despite receiving payment Mr Aqeel provided 45 kanals less land to the NPF.

“Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed Khan remained the managing director of the NPF from January 1, 2000 to March 17, 2005. The shortage of 45 kanals and four marla was noted in 2001,” the FIA report said. “Without obtaining the deficient land from Mr Aqeel or taking action against him, the NPF managing director executed another agreement with him for the purchase of land and kept on releasing the advance payment to him.”

But Mr Aqeel continued blaming the NPF for playing foul not only with him but also with the applicants.

“They made several agreements with me only because they had no money to buy land in a bulk. The foundation also did not hire any other developer because nobody was willing to work with it,” Mr Aqeel told Dawn.

He said his company, Land Linker, was providing raw land in a bulk to the NPF and it was the responsibility of the foundation to develop and sell it.

Regarding the Rs6 billion residential and commercial land allocated to him in 2001 by the NPF, Mr Aqeel said the move was made as the foundation had failed to find a customer for the scheme. “They needed to market the whole scheme and asked me to help them out.”

Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, who represented the 156 police officials and the owners of the NPF plots, told Dawn that the court cancelled the plots to a large number of allottees without even hearing them.

He said most of the allottees, including his own clients, had further sold out the plots and now the court ordered had burdened the buyers who had paid full price for the plots and got transferred it into their names. “Some buyers have even constructed houses on these plots.”

Barrister Zafar said since the judgment had created an uncertainty among the buyers, he was going to file a review petition