ISLAMABAD: Powerful elements in Capital Development Authority (CDA) continue to create hurdles to delay the development work of promised sectors in the federal capital. Park Enclave-I is one such prime example of this unprecedented delay where dozens of allottees are still waiting for the possession of their plots since last eight years.The Park Enclave affectees who are waiting for their plots acquisition despite paying full payments some eight years ago breathed a sigh of relief after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) verdict in Kurri Land case and hoped to get the possession of their plots. However, their joy was short lived as the same group which had been creating hurdles once again took refuge in a stay order issued by a civil court of Islamabad.Recently the affectees of Park Enclave-I were once again told that due to a stay order issued by Civil Court the development work has been halted. However, the court order issued on August 21, 2019 is conditional and has nothing to do with this scheme. The court in its short order had clearly mentioned, “Defendants are restrained from dispossessing the plaintiff without payment of compensation illegally and without due course of law, subject to notice till next date of hearing. However this order would have no effect on any other legal/judicial proceedings”.The spokesperson of CDA while talking to The News said the development work of Park Enclave-I will continue. In fact, it is being carried out regularly.“The civil court’s judgment has been examined minutely. There’s no stay order. There’s a very clear order of the Islamabad High Court in this matter. So there’s no confusion as for as the matter of Park Enclave is concerned. However, there is a slight resistance from the locals which will be handled amicably”, said the spokesperson.He said whenever force is required to vacate the land, it will be used within the realms of the law. The ICT administration has no spare police force because of Ashura duties. However, after the Ashura Police Force will be sent to vacate the land, informed the source.A well-placed source in the CDA informed that some baboos in the civic agency are the main hurdle and have always blamed that the court’s stay orders are main reason of delay. Even in a briefing to the Federal Ombudsman on delay in the completion of Park Enclave-I housing scheme, some CDA members took the plea that court cases were major impediment to the completion of this venture.The source further informed that due to continuous efforts of the acting Chairman CDA Amir Ahmed Ali, the development work on Park Enclave was initiated. It is him who has vacated the government land in Sector D-12 as well.It is pertinent to mention here that the CDA officials had recently admitted before the Islamabad High Court that no stay order issued by the IHC had barred it from completing the Park Enclave project. The civic body’s officials had assured the court that the present management was serious about completing the project.After announcing the scheme in 2011, selling plots to hundreds of citizens at very high commercial rates without land possession and failing to deliver plots to dozens of victims, the CDA had told the Federal Ombudsman last year that it was unable to deliver plots in phase-I [of Park Enclave] because of a stay order issued by the IHC.Many victims had moved the Federal Ombudsman after being wronged for eight long years. A research by The News proved that the said stay order was issued in a totally different case having no link with the allotment of plots in the Park Enclave. The CDA bosses simply tried to mislead the Federal Ombudsman and befool the victims by intentionally shifting the blame to the IHC. In January 2019, during the hearing of a petition, an official of CDA appeared before a two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, and apologized for misrepresenting facts.The CDA official admitted that the stay order issued by the IHC in Mst Hameeda Bano and Falak Naz etc. Vs CDA case had nothing to do with the allotment of plots in the Park Enclave Phase-I.Appearing on behalf of the CDA, the counsel assured the court that a timeline was being defined by the CDA management under which development work will be completed in phase-I and plots handed over to the victims.The bench however remarked that corruption in the CDA had reached to such an extent that it should be abolished now. The bench sought a list of officers who had launched the scheme and sold out plots without having the land in possession. The court said money should be recovered from the officers who had deceived the public. It further observed that the victims of phase-I could file damages suits against the CDA for failing to deliver as per commitment.During the hearing, even the victims of Kuri and Rahara told the court through their counsel that the CDA had wrongly linked their case with the Park Enclave. The counsel supported the plea of Park Enclave allottees who had approached the IHC against the CDA’s misrepresentation of facts about the IHC’s stay order concerning allotments in Kuri Model village.After its failure to deliver plots to the victims of Park Enclave in eight years, when the Federal Ombudsman asked the CDA to take action against those officials who were involved in selling plots to citizens without having the possession of land, the CDA in a tricky move wrote to the Ombudsman that delay in allotment of plots to the victims was because of a stay order granted by the Islamabad High Court in Mst. Hameeda Bano and Falak Naz etc. Vs CDA case.However, documentary evidence proved that the CDA had lied to the Federal Ombudsman. A perusal of the said order of the IHC belies CDA’s allegations against the high court. The said IHC order granted a stay order against any allotments in a village named Kurri Model Village which is situated much away from the location of Park Enclave where the CDA has to allot plots to the victims.It is important to note here that the phase-I of the project launched in 2011 was to be developed and delivered to those who had purchased plots at very high commercial rates, in January 2013. In 2011, one kanal plot was sold for Rs12 million while in the second phase, four years later, the price of the same size plot was Rs22 million. After a lapse of eight years, more than 60 owners of plots in Park Enclave-I have been waiting for the possession.
from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2zT94PO
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