ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: Capital Development Authority Chairman Tariq Mehmood Khan infuriated a Senate committee on Thursday by implying that he is inundated by federal legislators’ requests for favours.

Senator Kamran Murtaza told Dawn that the official insulted the legislators by telling the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat that it was not possible for him to return the phone calls from 442 members of the parliament, most of them seeking a plot, farmland or job for somebody.

Senator Murtaza said he wanted to storm out of the meeting to protest Mr Khan’s remark but was restrained by the committee chairman Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi. So the senator vented his anger by filing a privilege motion against the CDA chairman with the Senate office.

Mr Khan’s allegedly “harsh statement” and “rude behaviour” followed an observation by the committee chairman that it was a general complaint that the CDA chairman never returned calls of members of the committee.

“The entire proceedings are recorded and can show that the tone and tenor of the CDA chief was insulting,” said Sen Mumtaz, adding that he never approached the CDA chairman to seek a plot or job.

Since his offensive remark meant restricting the powers of parliamentary bodies, the CDA chairman would not continue in his office, if the privileges committee so desired, the senator said.

While members of the Senate committee may feel the statement of the CDA chief breached their privilege, analysts appreciate the discomfort of the heads of government institutions at elected representatives and high-ups breathing on their necks.

The pressure of answering their constantly ringing telephones adversely affects the officials’ working, the analysts said.

Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat accused the chairman and other senior officials of the CDA of not bothering to return their phone calls regarding redressing of public grievances.

“We are public representatives and it is our right to contact public servants. This attitude smack of high handedness and constitute a breach of their privilege,” said the members.

The Senate body expressed its displeasure over what it called ‘the non-serious attitude’ of the CDA authorities towards committees’ of the parliament and parliamentarians. It also termed the presentation given by the CDA as incomplete and unsatisfactory, and said it lacked the vital information asked by the committee. It directed the authority to improve coordination among various wings and departments, to come prepared next time and provide the information to the committee on priority.

The committee observed that the process of land acquisition by the CDA needs to be streamlined on sound footings in the wake of the activities of organised ‘compensation mafias’ operating in the ICT. It said that this has almost become a lucrative business for unscrupulous elements, which mostly operate through their moles in the authority. “Their activities must be checked strictly”. The blackmailing tactics of the local influentials, it said, are a cause of concern for the committee.