Imran in hot water over ‘fake’ Bani Gala NOC

Author: Muhammad Asad Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: A former secretary of a union council in Bara Kahu Wednesday declared a no-objection certificate (NOC) submitted by Imran Khan in the Supreme Court for the construction of his Bani Gala residence as fake, almost a year after Daily Times pointed out lack of approval for the construction of the sprawling structure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo.

In his reply to the apex court, Muhammad Umar, former secretary of UC Bara Kahu, stated that the NOC submitted by Imran Khan was never issued by the local authority. He informed the court that the NOC dated back to 2003, when he was posted as secretary at the union council’s office. “The NOC is a computerized copy whereas the union council had no computer system and the work was done manually at that time,” he said in his reply.

The official claimed that the blueprint for the residence submitted by the PTI chief was also fake, adding that the union council had asked Imran Khan to submit a blueprint of proposed construction of the residence but he never did.

In April last year, the Supreme Court had sought report in a suo motu case over municipal lawlessness in Bani Gala. In May, Imran Khan also filed an application in the Supreme Court against encroachments in the area.

Imran submitted fake NOC before SC: Marriyum —A5

In compliance with the court orders, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration had submitted a report in the apex court stating that there were 122 illegal constructions in Bani Gala and that a portion of Imran Khan’s residence was also illegally constructed.

It is pertinent to mention here that Daily Times first pointed out that the residence of Imran Khan didn’t have any legal cover. It was reported that Khan had constructed his residence in violation of at least two laws. In a hearing of the case on February 13 this year, the Supreme Court had summoned property documents of the Bani Gala residence of Imran Khan. Resultantly, Imran’s counsel Babar Awan submitted the blueprint and an NOC purportedly issued by the union council in Supreme Court on February 22.

Published in Daily Times, March 1^st2018.