Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday accepted Bahria Town Karachi's Rs460 billion offer for the land it occupies in Malir district of Karachi and restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from filing references against it.
The apex court last week had reserved its ruling on whether or not to accept a fresh offer by the Bahria Town (Pvt) Limited to settle a case pertaining to its Malir or Karachi Super Highway project in lieu of payment of Rs450 billion. The top court raised the amount that is to be paid by Bahria Town Karachi, to Rs460bn.
Bahria Town Karachi will have to pay the entire amount over seven years.
It will have to make a down payment of Rs25 billion by August 27 this year. From September onward, it will have to pay monthly instalments of Rs2.25 billion for the next three years.
After three years, Bahria Town Karachi will have to pay a four percent markup in case of late instalments.
A three-judge bench of the court had taken up the implementation of its May 4, 2018 judgement in which it was held that grant of land to Malir Development Authority (MDA) by the Sindh government, its exchange with the land of Bahria Town and anything done under the provisions of the Colonisation of Government Land Act 1912 by the provincial government was illegal and “of no legal existence”.
The land was granted for launching an incremental housing project, but instead of launching such a scheme, the MDA exchanged it with Bahria Town that launched a scheme of its own, the judgement had held.
The apex court had clarified that it would recognise only the site plan of Bahria Town, Malir, identifying 16,896 acres in the district that had been signed both by the developer and the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission.