Bahria Town’s claim of shortfall in land proved deception in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday ordered Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd to pay Rs1 million to a charity named Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) for wrongfully claiming shortfall in land.

The verdict also directed Bahria Town to reimburse the Sindh government an equal amount of the money spent on a survey conducted by the Survey of Pakistan (SoP) to assess the land in possession of the developer.

The case of Bahria Town 

Bahria Town claimed that according to apex court’s consent order on 21-03-2019, the bahria town was supposed to be given 16,896 acres but so far only 11,747 acres provided by MDA.Bahria claimed  a shortfall of 5,149 acres.

The Bahria Town’s counsel argued that since the entity did not get the promised land, it stopped payments of instalments when it had agreed to pay Rs460 billion within a period of seven years and that through the application it brought the development to the notice of the apex court.

What Supreme Court uncovered about shortfall in land 

The Supreme Court of Pakistan was informed that Bahria Town is in possession of a total 19,931.63 acres of land. Bahria Town has 17,709.45 acres in Malir and 2,222.18 acres in Jamshoro district. The unauthorised land in Bahria Town’s possession is 3,035.63 acres.

The survey of the land was undertaken by Survey of Pakistan (SoP) and its director explained it was carried out scientifically by using Global Navigation Satellite System Receivers in the presence of the Bahria Town’s own survey team. The cost of the survey was Rs1m.

Why Bahria Town persistently lied in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Pakistan in its verdict stated that it appears that BTPL filed the applications, alleging shortfall in land, merely as a pretext to avoid paying the instalments which it had agreed to pay.

The applications were also used as a smokescreen to conceal the additional land in Bahria Town’s possession.

Bahria Town Limited Karachi (BTLK) payments in Supreme Court of Pakistan account

The Supreme Court of Pakistan in its verdict stated that an amount of Rs166.25bn, excluding applicable mark-up, should have by now been paid, but only Rs24bn was paid.

The Supreme Court determined that Rs65 billion, including funds remitted from the UK and deposited locally, be transferred to the Central and Sindh governments. Out of this, approximately Rs35 billion is allocated to the federal government, and Rs30 billion to the Sindh government.

The court order emphasized that the consent order specified conditions for default, noting that Bahria Town had indeed defaulted, making the entire balance amount due and payable.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah had heard the Bahria Town Karachi implementation case in the Supreme Court.