Sindh High Court suspends notices against Naya Nazimabad

KARACHI: In an important development, a division bench of Honourable Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan, has suspended the operation of all notices and letters in which DC West had levelled various allegations against Naya Nazimabad project land. Separately, on the same day, another division bench of Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Irshad Ali Shah, has restrained anti-corruption officials from taking any ‘coercive action’ against Javedan Corporation and its directors on the request of DC, West.

By way of background, on February 11, 2020, on a constitutional petition filed by Javedan Corporation Limited (Javedan) against Board of Revenue, Sindh, DC, West District, Assistant Commissioner, Mangopir, Lyari Development Authority and Sindh Building Control Authority and others, a division bench of the Sindh High Court, suspended an adverse notice that had been issued against Javedan and restrained all the respondents from taking ‘any coercive action’ against the company.

On the following day, February 12, 2020, DC, West, issued another five letters against Naya Nazimabad project, all on the same day.

According to a statement issued by Javedan, “Now that the Honourable Sindh High Court has suspended all the orders of DC West which were mala fide, baseless and illegal, it is for the government officials who issued these letter/ orders and who levelled baseless allegations against Naya Nazimabad project to prove those allegations in the court.”

Since this paper has already published the allegations contained in the letters that had been issued by DC, West, regarding the largest housing project in Karachi of its kind, we are publishing below pointwise response and rebuttal of Javedan/ Naya Nazimabad to each allegation.

After having challenged the allegations against Naya Nazimabad in the highest court of the province, the management of Javedan believes that it has a moral obligation towards the owners of 6,000 homes and plots, who have reposed trust in the integrity of Javedan’s management to now publicly reject all allegations and to offer a clear explanation and response to each allegation, truthfully and completely.

Before responding to each allegation, it is important to point out that the present sponsors of Javedan purchased its shares from Privatisation Commission of Pakistan through a transparent bidding process. Since acquiring Javedan from Privatisation Commission, the management confirms that each and every activity done in planning, launching and development of the only gated, master-planned project of this scale in Karachi with provision for world class amenities, is strictly in accordance with law, after paying all the required dues and after obtaining all the requisite permissions from the Board of Revenue (BOR), Lyari Development Authority (LDA) and Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) etc.

What is also important is that unlike so many other housing projects, the residents of Naya Nazimabad actually own their homes and plots as they are not just occupying them under some contractual arrangement. Thousands of sub-leases of the residents are duly registered, making them absolute owners of their plots and houses.

The first allegation is that the lease for Naya Nazimabad project was originally for 30 years and that its extension from 30 years to 99 years is ‘apparently fake’.

This allegation is patently false because the lease was extended from 30 years to 99 years by the then Collector as per the prevalent laws. Subsequently, the company was nationalised under the Economic Reforms Order of 1972, which is covered under the Constitution of 1973. The sponsors of Javedan purchased this company’s shares from Privatisation Commission (PC) in 2006. PC’s own Information Memorandum that was circulated among all the potential bidders, described the lease of Javedan land as 99 years, and not as 30 years. Had this not been the case, the PC would not have been able to sell Javedan even for one-third of the price that it actually got.

The second allegation contained in the DC West letters is that the purpose of the acquired company’s land was industrial while a residential project was launched on it without valid conversion of the status from industrial to residential.

First of all, the share purchase agreement that was signed between the acquirers of Javedan and the PC, does not place any restriction on the use of land. Secondly, after operating as a cement plant for more than 50 years, the use of land for housing purpose was the most logical extension as the area was now surrounded by a dense population. Operating industry is hazardous to the residents in the vicinity. This is also in line with the government’s planning which created Lyari Development Authority in 1996 to create housing in the area (Halkani Town, Scheme 43). Last, but not the least, after acquiring Javedan from the PC, the new owners of Javedan applied for and duly obtained all the requisite NOCs/ approvals from all the relevant authorities for use of land for residential purposes.

From the explanation to the above two allegations, it should be clear that the letters of DC, West, are not based on facts and the allegations contained in them, do not deserve any credence.

The third allegation is that after its privatisation, Javedan obtained Ghat Wadh Form 35 in 2011, which was cancelled in 2013, was later restored in 2016, but the restoration document is ‘managed’ and ‘fabricated’.

This allegation is totally false. In 2011, after privatisation, Javedan validly obtained Form 35. However, in 2013, this form was illegally revoked, without giving Javedan any right of hearing etc. It was then on the application of Javedan and after conducting proper hearing that in 2016, Form 35 was restored. The Form was restored after following due process.

On what basis can the restoration letter be said to be ‘fake’.

Is it reasonable for anyone to believe that the management of Javedan that is developing such a huge residential project would, instead of getting revocation of Form 35 reversed or challenging it in court, would just prepare a ‘forged’ restoration order and DC, West, and his officials would not do anything about it nor take any action on the basis of revocation of Form 35 despite a passage of seven years. It is important to note that since 2013 when allegedly Form 35 was cancelled, no government department, including the Board of Revenue, Lyari Development Authority and SBCA, was informed of this act. Even the spatial deh map submitted in the Supreme Court in the famous Suo Moto Case 16/2011, contained the same information as per Form 35 clearly suggesting that Form 35 is intact. Also, the Board of Revenue and SBCA granted several approvals and registered numerous sub-leases on the basis of the information contained in this Form 35.

The fourth allegation is that the land measuring 128-7 acres was allotted to Javedan then cancelled but was later regularised in a ‘suspicious’ manner. This allegation is even more absurd than other allegations.

Following are the simple facts: Upon acquiring Javedan from PC, the acquirers ‘themselves’ found that the allotment of the above 128-7 land in favour of Javedan was on the basis of a bogus entry in the record.

As a responsible and honest management, realising that this bogus entry may cause them problems in future and with the aim of setting highest standards of integrity and perfect land records, Javedan, the beneficiary of that bogus entry, itself formally applied for cancellation of that bogus entry. Finally, Javedan’s own application for cancellation of ‘its own’ land was granted and the bogus entry for allotment of land was cancelled.

However, since the land in question was situated within the project land, Javedan applied to Land Utilisation Department for regularisation/ proper allotment of that land to Javedan.

It was thus that after processing Javedan’s application, on 15.04.2011, the Scrutiny Committee of Land Utilisation Department, after receiving the requisite fee, which nine years ago came to about PKR 16 crore, regularised/ allotted this land to Javedan and on 21.06.2011, the Land Utilisation Department issued allotment letter for the land in favour of Javedan.

The fifth allegation is that Javedan got the lease for the above land (128-7 acres) duly registered in violation of the ban imposed by Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan. This is patently false.

The allotment letter issued by the Land Utilisation Department on 21.6.2011, stated that ‘the mutation in the record of rights shall be subject to the execution of lease agreement deed with Collector within three months of making full payment’. While, all the dues for execution of lease and the formalities for its registration had been completed, the process was halted following the ban placed by Supreme Court in 2012, which has recently been relaxed. Hence, the registration process is now expected to be completed soon.

Earlier too, Naya Nazimabad and its record have been thoroughly reviewed by NAB and FIA both of which did not find any illegalities. The management of Javedan invites everyone to focus on facts instead of rumors and baseless maligning campaigns.

It is hoped that the fake hindrances created by unscrupulous elements are now quashed and regular approvals for development, transfer and registration will be forthcoming as per law. The management of Javedan is determined to focus on developing Naya Nazimabad at an even faster pace and with more vigor and will. With the grace of Allah, it will succeed in completing it as the biggest and the best gated residential community in the heart of the commercial hub of Pakistan.