ISLAMABAD: With direct orders from the Supreme Court, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) released a statement on Monday stating that formal investigations against Bahria Town Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi had been officially launched by the watchdog.
On May 4, the Supreme Court, in three different verdicts against the real estate empire, declared the procurement of land by Bahria Town, for its housing projects in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Murree, “null and void,” noting that significant transfers and allotments of land to each project had taken place illegally. Subsequently, the apex court ordered NAB to file references against the individuals responsible for the transfers and to take action against them within three months.
Chairman NAB Javed Iqbal directed the relevant authorities to complete their investigation within the specified period, in line with the court’s directions.
In response to queries by local media, NAB explained that its investigation in the New Murree Development Scheme was already complete and that the new initiative was against Bahria Town Lahore, in which they were to investigate whether or not there were any irregularities in that project.
Previously, the apex court barred Bahria Town Karachi from selling or allotting land in the said project after declaring the allotment of land to the company by the Sindh government and a massive land swap with the Malir Development Authority (MDA) illegal.
“We are constrained to declare that the grant of the land to the MDA, its exchange with the land of Bahria Town and anything done pursuant thereto being against the provisions of COGLA 1912 (Colonization of Government Lands Act 1912) and statement of conditions are void ab initio and as such have no existence,” the court ruled. The court ordered the land belonging to the government, exchanged with Bahria Town, be given back to the government and vice versa.
The apex court also struck down a “mutual encroachment deal” between Bahria Town and the forest department where Bahria Town, in the Takht Pari area near Islamabad, was encroaching upon 1,170 kanals of forest land, while the forest department had “encroached” on an area measuring 765 kanals of Bahria Town, deeming it illegal and of no effect.
We declare that “the area of Takht Pari is 2,210 acres; that exchange of land purportedly encroached by Bahria Town and the forest department and attestation of mutations in this behalf being based on an erroneous assumption about the area is against the law and the record and as such of no effect and the order passed in S.M.C.No. 3 of 2009 is recalled.”
The court also took notice of the alleged irregular allotment of land to the Defense Housing Authority (DHA).
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan — who headed the bench which heard the cases against Bahria Town — drew the attention of Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar to allegations of land being allotted to the DHA and many other societies on throwaway rates in contravention of the law. He further requested the CJP to take suo moto notice if the allegations proved true and to treat them alike.
Formal inquiry against Bahria Town projects launched — NAB
Formal inquiry against Bahria Town projects launched — NAB
- Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan — who headed the bench that heard the cases against Bahria Town — drew the attention of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar to allegations of land being allotted to DHA.
- The apex court also struck down a “mutual encroachment deal” between Bahria Town and the forest department where Bahria Town, in the Takht Pari area near Islamabad.
More than 1,000 councilors in UK sign Palestine pledge
- Issue could prove decisive in local elections set for May, campaigners say
- Campaign pledges councilors to ‘uphold inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
LONDON: More than 1,000 local councilors in the UK have signed a pledge of solidarity with Palestine, in what could prove to be a crucial issue in upcoming elections, Sky News reported on Saturday.
Many Labour-run councils face the prospect of losing power in the local elections, set for May.
The issue of Palestine could play a decisive role in key sections of the electorate, campaigners have said.
The document, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and signed by 1,028 councilors so far, pledges signatories to “uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and prevent councils’ complicity in “Israel’s violations of international law,” including by divesting from pension funds invested in arms companies.
Zoe Garbett, a Hackney Green councilor who signed the pledge, told Sky News: “I think that this is really important to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and to make sure that we can make ethical investments. They want to see their council representing them on a national level.”
She added: “We know that most people really want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to wars and conflicts all across the world, and they want to see their local representatives standing up for them.”
Of the signatories to the pledge, 245 councilors are from the Green Party, 338 from Labour, 104 Liberal Democrats, 38 from the Scottish National Party, 17 from Plaid Cymru, 12 from Your Party, three Conservatives and many independents.
Labour has faced significant pressure from its traditional voter base over the issue of Gaza, especially after Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared reluctant to call for a ceasefire.
Key London borough councils, dominated by Labour, have seen councilors sign up en masse to the pledge.
In Islington, a Labour stronghold, 59 percent of councilors signed the pledge, while 49 percent signed in Tower Hamlets.
Similar trends have taken place in Sheffield — where no party has overall council control — and Bradford.
Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “I think that so many Labour councilors have been so keen to sign the Palestine pledge as councilors because it puts on record that support for Palestine and distinguishes them from the position taken by the leader of the Labour Party.”
Alongside PSC, Britain’s most significant pro-Palestine group, the pledge is also supported by the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, The Muslim Vote and the British Palestinian Committee.
PSC political organizer Dan Iley-Williamson said local councils in the UK “administer pension funds that invest more than £12 billion ($16 billion)” in weapons firms linked to Israel.
“The mass movement for Palestine — which has brought millions onto Britain’s streets — is not going away,” he added.
