ISLAMABAD: The Quaid-i-Azam University’s (QAU) plea for ownership of land in G-14 sector forced the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) to abruptly postpone the auction of commercial plots that were slated to be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

The QAU has been stating that the Mauve Area of G-14/4 was acquired with its funds, therefore, the university had every right to claim the land’s ownership.

Speaking to Dawn, QAU Registrar Raja Qaiser Ahmed said in 1997, the land in G-14/4 sector was acquired for the QAU with funding from the university’s employees.

He said as per the agreement, it was decided that whenever the auction of commercial plots would be held in G-14/4’s Mauve Area, 60pc share will be given to the QAU and the remaining 40pc to the FGEHA.

The registrar said initially, the FGEHA honoured its commitment but later started auctioning plots on its own.

“They already owe QAU’s Rs8 billion and now they are once again set to hold auction of plots once again,” Mr Ahmed said, adding that to stop them, the university filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court, which for the time being decided in the university’s favour. The auction was therefore stopped.

Meanwhile, the QAU officials stated that in 1996-97, land measuring 1,459 kanals was acquired by the then Federal Government Housing Foundation through the land collector for development of a housing scheme for QAU employees.

They said the area in excess of the requirement of the housing scheme was allowed to be utilised by the FGEHA.

A document of the QAU stated: “The FGEHA Islamabad submitted three proposals for apportionment of land in G-14/4 and the QAU accepted the third proposal with mutual understanding on raw land basis. The ratio would be 58.9pc in favour of the QAU and 41pc for the FGEHA and “will be operative for all shares, liabilities and benefits of sub-sector G-14/4,” the QAU letter read, which was also shared with the FGEHA last year.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the FGEHA, through a statement, announced that it had decided to postpone the two-day auction of Class-III commercial plots in sectors G-13 and G-14 and a fuel station plot in Mauve Area.

According to a press release, the decision to postpone the auction had been made due to unforeseen circumstances. It said a new date for the auction would be announced in due course, providing ample time for the interested parties to prepare for this significant opportunity.

According to a FGEHA spokesperson, the auction was postponed for one month because of litigation with the QAU. He said funds generated from the auction of commercial plots in G-14/4 were meant for repair and maintenance of the sector.

“We have already spent Rs2 billion on the maintenance of G-14 sector; however matters regarding repair and maintenance expenditure incurred on the said sector were yet to be finalised with the university,” he said.

To a query about the QAU claim of Rs8 billion, the spokesperson said he could not comment about their claim at this time.

“The matter is in court; let the court decide the terms and conditions about the share,” he added.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2023