As the Supreme Court resumed the hearing on the implementation of the March 21, 2019 approval of the Rs460 billion offer by Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd Karachi on Wednesday, the Bahria Town Development Authority has requested equal treatment in line with other entities for land acquisition in Karachi.
A new application was submitted by Bahria Town’s legal team, led by Salman Aslam Butt, to the apex court. The application referred to paragraph 18 of the court’s majority judgment on May 4, 2018, wherein it was emphasized, “We have been informed that government land has been allocated to DHA and various other societies at lower rates compared to this case. If this is so, we request the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto action in this regard so that similar cases are treated similarly.”
Despite the judicial order, four chief justices – Mian Saqib Nisar, Asif Saeed Khosa, Gulzar Ahmed, and Umar Ata Bandial – did not initiate suo motu proceedings during their respective tenures.
The application from Bahria Town highlighted official documents that revealed the Pakistan Defence Officers Housing Authority Karachi, specifically DHA City Karachi, was allocated approximately 19,640 acres of land in Deh Kathore and the adjacent Dehs of Bayal, Abdar, and Khadeji at a rate of Rs100,000 per acre, amounting to a total of Rs1.96 billion.
A clear discrepancy of over Rs458 billion between the land provided to Bahria Town and the land allotted to DHA City was pointed out. The legal team emphasized the similarity in location and positioning of both lands in the Malir Development Authority, asserting that equitable treatment should be extended to Bahria Town similar to other parties such as DHA Karachi. The plea emphasized the need to safeguard the rights of all involved, in accordance with the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution, without discrimination or undue advantage to any party.
