HYDERABAD: Wit-hout obtaining required permissions and a no-objection certificate from relevant authorities, a local builder has launched a residential-cum-commercial project on a piece of land within the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board Hyderabad (CBH) which he bought in an auction for Rs1.4 billion, it emerged on Wednesday.

The plot measuring 1,289.38 sq yards located next to city’s iconic Chandni cinema was auctioned in December 2023.

Official sources told Dawn that the successful bidder had not yet deposited the Rs140 million, the one/tenth of the auction amount that he was supposed to pay to get the NOC and other permissions from CBH, etc.

An official said that as per terms and conditions, the successful bidder had to deposit Rs140m, but instead he had set up a site office there to attract investment from potential buyers apparently to create a third-party interest.

The Military Estate Office (MEO) as well as the CBH are not ready to take responsibility for what the private party is doing on the military land located a few paces away from CBH and station headquarters.

Layout plan yet to be submitted to CBH

CBH chief executive officer Shahid Iqbal told Dawn over phone that the land in question belonged to the MEO. He, however, conceded that the layout plan was supposed to be approved by the CBH, but sometimes the MEO or the defense ministry handled such matters directly.

He said that the CBH could see to it when the layout plan was submitted to it for approval.

When contacted, CBH secretary Faisal Jadoon said the matter about the auction was still pending.

According to MEO Chaudhry Babar, the approval of Rs1.4bn by the office concerned under the defense ministry had not yet been issued.

He said that the successful bidder had reportedly sought time till March 25 from relevant forum in the ministry to deposit the one/tenth of the amount i.e. Rs140m. “I can’t say with certainty that he is allowed time by the ministry to deposit one/tenth payment by March 25,” Babar told Dawn.

He confirmed that initially the bidder had submitted an application to MEO Hyderabad office, showing his voluntary withdrawal from the bidding process on the ground that he would not be able to participate in it due to general elections.

He said that layout plan for any commercial project could only be considered after due approval from federal government through the ministry concerned.

“It is alarming that the bidder has already launched the project and opened booking office for apartments and shops. Who will be responsible for people’s investments if something goes wrong,” asked one official.

Builder’s version

The successful bidder, Kashif Ameen, is said to be a resident of Tando Adam. The Dawn tried to reach out to him for obtaining his comments but he was unavailable. A voice message along with questions in text form was also sent to Mr Ameen’s WhatsApp number but he neither replied the message nor called back.

However, his younger brother, Danish Ameen, said in response to Dawn’s queries: “Issuance of NOC will take three months. It is a huge payment to be made.”

He did not reply as to how could they launch the project and seek investment from potential buyers when its approval had not yet been issued.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2024