Sindh's comments on plea for land settlement sought.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Sindh government to explain its position on a federal government application seeking the land settlement funds being deposited by Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd in the apex court.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Faisal Arab, issued a notice to the provincial government when Attorney General Anwar Mansoor invited the court's attention to the application that he had moved on behalf of the federal government on Aug 22.

'Why we have ordered the money to be deposited in the Supreme Court, because we need to look at where the money has to go,' remarked Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, another member of the bench that also comprised Justice Muneeb Akhtar.

Justice Ahsan observed that a lot of claimants had come up to claim the money even before it had been deposited. After the federal government's plea, another application was moved by the Sindh government pleading for transfer of the funds to the account of the provincial government.

When the judge asked what the urgency was, the AG on a lighter note replied, 'money'.

'We need to look at where the money has to go,' remarks Justice Ahsan

On March 21, a three-judge SC bench headed by then Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed had approved Rs460 billion offer made by Bahria Town to implement the apex court's May 4, 2018 decision.

The court had in its order held that the grant of the land to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) by the Sindh government, its exchange with the land of Bahria Town and anything done under the provisions of Colonisation of Government Land Act, 1912 by the Sindh government were illegal and of no legal existence.

The land was granted for launching an incremental housing scheme, but instead of launching the scheme, the MDA exchanged it with Bahria Town to launch a scheme of its own, the SC judgement had regretted.

The settlement concerns only the Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) project spreading over 16,896 acres along the Superhighway; independent of other projects such as 5,472 kanals in Rawalpindi's Takht Pari Rakh and 4,542 kanals in Sulkhatar and Manga Land, Murree.

The apex court had granted a period of seven years commencing from Sept 1, 2019 to Aug 31, 2026 for the payment of the entire amount to be deposited in the Supreme Court account.

In a two-page application, the federal government later pleaded that the money was liable to be credited to the public account of the federation. It said Bahria Town had...