Lahore Development Authority Directed To Review Land Acquisition Plan By Partners For LDA City

The Supreme Court on Saturday ordered Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for reviewing the plan by three development partners for acquisition of remaining land for LDA city and submit its report by Dec 29.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Dec, 2018 ) :The Supreme Court on Saturday ordered Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for reviewing the plan by three development partners for acquisition of remaining land for LDA city and submit its report by Dec 29.

The court also sought proposal from the authority for solution of the LDA City land acquisition issue, if the plan was not found satisfactory.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar passed the directions while hearing an application by DG LDA seeking permission for procurement and transfer of land for LDA city by the development partners.

During the proceedings, the counsel on behalf of three LDA City development partners, including Urban Developers, Pak Estate and Maymar Housing Service, assured the court that they were ready to acquire the remaining land for LDA city project.

They submitted that as per revised plan, already half of the land had been acquired whereas other half- 20,000 kanals-could be acquired in one year.

At this, the chief justice asked the DG LDA Amina Imran for reviewing the offer made by three partners to which, she submitted that the development partners were bound to provide the land in one year period but they failed and the acquisition period was extended thrice since 2014.

However, the court directed the DG LDA for reviewing the plan by the development partners to resolve the issue in interest of the affectees.

The counsel assured that the plan for acquisition of remaining land would be submitted in four days.

Subsequently the court adjourned the matter till Dec 29 with a direction to review the plan.

Meanwhile, the bench also ordered for recovery of additional salary from Ahad Cheema, paid to him as CEO of Bhikki power plant in addition to his regular pay scale.

Earlier, Ahad Cheema was produced before the bench from Jail in response to its directions. The bench had summoned Ahad Cheema as LDA City Project was launched during his tenure as DG LDA.

To a court query, Ahad Cheema submitted that DHA model was adopted for acquisition of land for LDA City due to various problems.

However, the chief justice expressed dissatisfaction and observed that land acquired so far for the project was in scattered form and no development could be initiated till it was available in a compact shape. Objectionable agreements were made to get personal benefits from the project, he added.

To a court query, a National Accountability Bureau's prosecutor apprised the bench that reference would be filed against Ahad cheema in connection with LDA city scam soon.

Ahad Cheema submitted that he received Rs 1.4 million salary as CEO Bhikki Power plant, in response to another court query.

The court was apprised that Ahad Cheema had not returned additional salary received as CEO of Bhikki Power plant.

At this, the court observed that why additional salary had not been recovered from Ahad Cheema yet. A large number of officials who served in the public sector companies had returned their additional salaries in compliance with court directions, it added.

Subsequently, the bench ordered for recovery of additional salary from Ahad Cheema.