ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: An official of the judicial commission scrutinising alleged wrongdoings of the Capital Development Authority dismissed the record about the Monal Restaurant that the CDA submitted him on Friday as insufficient.

Additional sessions judge Pervaizul Qadir, who is secretary of the commission constituted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), asked the CDA to provide details regarding the origin and award of the contract of the restaurant project, in a proper format, on Monday, the day the commission has summoned the CDA chairman.

Meanwhile, the CDA is considering challenging the formation of the commission, according to its chief legal adviser, barrister Masroor Shah.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC had announced the commission on September 10 to get to the bottom of the issues raised in 1,459 cases against, and by, the CDA pending in the IHC and the sessions court of Islamabad for years.

Though the detailed order on the constitution of the commission and its mandate was signed by the judge on October 15, it was made public only days before the commission started its work on November 12.

CDA legal adviser Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry had consented to the formation of the commission at that time but resigned his office on November 14.

Normally, a court order can be challenged within 40 days after it is issued. IHC sources told Dawn that the CDA had contacted them whether it had time to file a challenge, and that in view of the peculiar situation a review petition might be accepted.

Advocate Chaudhry says he had given his consent to the formation of the two-member commission “in the interest of the CDA”.

He told Dawn that most of the matters the commission had been asked to probe were already pending in different courts.

There were 622 cases involving CDA, including 20 of contempt, pending in the IHC alone, and another 837 cases in the sessions court, he said.

According to him, the commission would set guidelines and make recommendations for early disposal of these cases.

That would save CDA prolonged litigation and the millions it was losing every month, he said, advising the civic body to extend full cooperation to the commission.

In September, while hearing petitions against irregular allotments in the CDA, Justice Siddiqui constituted the commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan.

The commission was assigned the scrutiny of projects, including the Monal restaurant, construction of I.J.P. Road, allotment of a plot to a private firm for construction of a five-star hotel, additional land to Centaurus for a grid station, allotment of a plot at F-10 to another firm on which it constructed a high-rise building and sold all its apartments without paying the premium/cost of the plot.

The commission would also examine the process of awarding the contract of light-emitting diode project worth Rs7.5 billion, Kuri model village project, a double road leading to ‘Bahira Enclave’, allotment of prime places at Rawal Dam, Saidpur model village, Gun Club, Diplomatic Enclave and award of contract for running diplomatic shuttle service, issuance of NOC and selling of land to private housing societies.