Last month, IHC dismissed the petition against the cancellation of the lease, saying the buyers lacked ownership rights.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued a major order restraining authorities from evicting owners of sublet apartments from One Constitution Avenue until further notice.
A division bench comprising Justice Muhammad Azam Khan and Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas heard intra-judicial appeals filed by former Air Chief Mujahid Anwar Khan, former ICC president Ahsan Mani, former Senate President Wasim Sajjad and others. The appellants challenged paragraph 30 of the single court’s decision regarding the protection of the rights of third parties.
Lawyers Taimur Aslam and Ali Raza appeared for the appellants, while Kashif Ali Malik represented the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
During the proceedings, CDA counsel argued that the appeals were not maintainable. Judge Inaam Ameen Minhas commented: “We will hear the full case later; today we are only considering his application for adjournment.”
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The court asked whether the apartment owners’ case had been examined when the matter came up before the Supreme Court. The court also questioned how the residents started living in the building without a completion certificate.
Justice Khan commented: “Was the CDA sleeping when there was no completion certificate but the residents had already started living there?”
The CDA lawyer informed the court that the building was yet to receive its completion certificate.
The court later ruled that no eviction of the apartment owners would be carried out until further order.
The case centers on the CDA’s cancellation of the project’s lease. Last month, IHC dismissed the petition against cancellation of the lease and dismissed related applications filed by apartment owners.
The residents argued that the CDA had approved the construction plan and issued a no-objection certificate (NOC), following which the apartments were purchased. They maintained that the dispute was between the CDA and the developer and should be resolved between the interested parties.
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In its detailed verdict, the court ruled that the buyers have no property rights.
The court stated that the buyers lacked ownership rights as the project’s lease had been terminated and proper legal processes regarding the transfer of ownership had not been followed.
The project originally arises from a 13.5 acre plot allotted to the BNP Group after an auction on March 9, 2005 for Rs 4,880 crore. Although the possession was handed over the same year after an initial payment of Rs 800 million, BNP has so far paid Rs 1.02 billion, while the remaining Rs 3.85 billion can be recovered in installments until 2026.
In July 2016, the CDA canceled the lease, citing multiple violations. The decision was upheld by the IHC in 2017, which also declared the conversion of a five-star hotel project into luxury apartments illegal. However, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling in early 2019 and ordered the developer to pay Rs 17.5 billion in installments over eight years.
The CDA argued that BNP failed to meet its financial obligations after 21 years, maintaining that full ownership was conditional on payment of 100% of the cost of the land. Of the total liability of Rs 17.5 billion, only Rs 2.9 billion (about 16.6%) has reportedly been paid.
