ISLAMABAD: After a flurry of scandals regarding fraudulent allotment of plots over the recent past, a new case of a bogus allotment has recently surfaced in the Capital Development Authority (CDA), in which a person who died in 2000 visited the CDA office to sign an application for the allocation of a resized plot.

Eleven years after his death, Noor Mohammad got the plot resized and allotted to his name after an application was submitted in 2011 with his signature, requesting changes to the allotment originally made in 1991.

An inquiry report, which was finalised by Deputy Director General Environment Rana Tahir, pointed out that Noor Mohammad died in 2000, but an application was submitted in his name to the CDA in 2011 for the resizing of his plot allotted in 1991.

The report said Noor Mohammad was allotted plot number 79, measuring 30x70 in Sector I-14/3 in 1991 and he died in 2000, but 11 years after his death, “he” submitted an application, requesting therein that his plot’s size had been reduced from 30x70 to 25x40 in the revised plan for the said sector. He asked the authority for a plot in another sector. In 2012, the CDA allotted him a plot in Sector I-12. In 2015, according to the inquiry officer, two alleged fictitious legal heirs surfaced, who got the plot transferred to their name.

Inquiry report says officials transferred plot to fictitious heirs

The inquiry officer said that as per the statement of Noor Mohammad, part of the plot file recorded in year 1991, he was unmarried. However, the two legal heirs, who were born in 1957 and 1958, got the plot transferred to their name and the CDA officials transferred the deed without verifying the family registration certificate.

“It is very clear from the above that the authority is sustaining a loss in millions due to commissions and omissions committed by the officials and officers…responsible for watching the interest of the department by not declaring this plot as ‘abandoned property’ on the basis of Mr Noor Mohammad’s…1991 declaration [of being single]…” the report said, adding that the plot was transferred to fictitious legal heirs. It revealed the plot was transferred twice within six months in 2015 and recommended action against the officials concerned involved in the fraud.

An official of the CDA told Dawn that charge sheets had been issued to several officials in this case, adding that two of the officers had already retired from the CDA.

It may be noted that in 2017, the CDA after making new standards operating procedure (SOP) decided to make new allotments through balloting only.

For this, the CDA compiled a list of over 500 plots in sectors I-11 and I-12 and held the first balloting in the same year to allot about 200 plots. The remaining plots were present in these lists. But in 2020, it was pointed out that the majority of the plots, which were available in the lists of 2017, had been allotted even though no balloting was conducted after 2017. This meant the said plots were allotted with backdated signatures and in many cases on the basis of bogus documents. An inquiry was ordered by the CDA while the Federal Investigation Agency had also launched a probe into this practice a few years ago.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2024