The Supreme Court ordered on Thursday that Rs65 billion – which include amount remitted from the UK by the Bahria Town and money deposited by Bahria Town in a Supreme Court account locally — be transferred to the Central and the Sindh governments.
Around Rs35 billion would be given to the federal government and Rs30 billion to the Sindh government out of around Rs65 billion, the order said.
The Rs35 billion to go to the federal government were remitted from abroad in 2019 after a British court lifted a freezing order against a bank account held by Malik Riaz family. This remittance came to be known as ‘£190 million case’ being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
A three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa heard the case.
The order was issued after the apex court resumed on Thursday the hearing in the Bahria Town Karachi case. Its Chief Executive Officer Malik Riaz Hussain pleaded that the amounts remitted from abroad for the benefit of the Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd (BTPL) were beyond the scope of the proceedings pending before the apex court.
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In the hearing, the CEO submitted his reply and the Karachi commissioner submitted his report pertaining to the housing project. The advocate general for Sindh demanded that the amount remitted from the United Kingdom should be transferred to the province.
According to the survey report submitted by the Sindh authorities, Bahria Town has occupied more than 16,896 acres of land.
The court observed that Bahria Town had also occupied additional land and added that it could not happen without the officials concerned. The government officials misused their office, it said, adding that they had “surrendered” the interests of the province and the people.
The advocate general assured the court that action would be taken against the officers guilty of negligence.
The SC expressed hopes that all governments would take steps to protect people who are allotted plots.
While ordering the money deposited by Bahria Town to the Sindh government, the order said that the top court could not keep this money.
