HYDERABAD: Two senior officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and two main operatives of a commercial plaza were arrested in a matter pertaining to violations of building laws, by-laws, rules and regulations in raising the eight-storey structure on Autobhan Road.

An FIR against a total of 13 suspects was registered by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), which arrested four suspects — SBCA Deputy Director Afzal Shaikh and Assistant Director (Latifabad) Jamil Chandio; and the plaza’s private operatives Amarullah Barkat and his mother Shaista Asadullah. The woman suspect was granted bail on health grounds.

Those at large included former regional directors Tazmir Asim, (his brother) Naveed Asim and Waqar Memon, according to ACE officials.

ACE Deputy Director Imran Hassan said that the SBCA officials nominated in the FIR were believed to have colluded with the private party in getting the plaza’s layout plan passed and then revising it in contravention of relevant SBCA rules.

The FIR under Sections 161, 166, 167, 217, 218, 417, 40 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 5(2) of Act 11 of 1947 was registered on the complaint of ACE Inspector Mohammad Naseer Rais, on behalf of state against 13 suspects.

The case was registered following an inquiry conducted on an application filed by a citizen, Faisal Khuhro.

According to the ACE, the inquiry revealed that the Hyderabad SITE had introduced its commercialisation policy which was heavily exploited by various builders and developers as they got lands converted from ‘industrial’ to ‘commercial’ and M/s Hero Builders and Developers were one of them. It said that SITE was competent authority for the approval of layout plans and grant of NOCs for construction on those lands which fell under its jurisdiction. SITE was supposed to grant approvals according to its settled by-laws.

The FIR said that in this case, SBCA officers granted approval and issued NOCs in violation of the plan approved by SITE.

The SBCA officers nominated in the FIR passed revised building plan in violation of the Sindh Building Control and Town Planning Regulations.

The matter of mass conversion of industrial land into commercial was taken into consideration by SC-appointed Water Commission, headed by retired Justice Amir Hani Muslim. The commission, at the end of the day, regularised conversion of land from industrial to commercial only in the cases of those eight projects of Hyderabad where construction had already commenced and under progress subject to payment of a lump sum amount with directives for utilisation of said amount for development of water supply and drainage system in SITE.

SBCA officers, once again, committed illegality and extended NOC for sale and advertisement of Hero Tower without fulfilling the condition laid down by the Water Commission.

SBCA finally suspended licence of M/s Hero Builders and Developers and sealed their Hero Tower in July 2021. However, this action appeared to be a delayed response, possibly intended to quell public outcry rather than genuinely enforcing regulations, the ACE said.

Applicant Faisal Khuhro had alleged that the Hero Tower project was launched in 2017. The builders obtained NOC from the SBCA and later got approved a revised plan on Aug 7, 2017 to assure potential investors of the project’s legality, according to the FIR.

SBCA regulations, particularly clause 3-2.5 were violated as revised plan was issued after construction had already begun. Despite this, the plan was approved, raising suspicion of collusion between SBCA and developers. Builders, over time, began demanding exorbitant additional charges, falsely claiming 90pc completion when only 40pc construction was done.

The applicant elucidated SBCA, which was responsible to ensure compliance, allowed violations in collusion with developers betraying public trust. He claimed that the lands, originally allotted by SITE for industrial development, were illegally converted to commercial. The project was expanded from 0.32 acres to 2.23 acres, he pointed out.

He complained that despite applications submitted to the then SBCA regional director on March 18, 2020 and May 20, 2020 highlighting illegalities, no action was taken.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2024