Daily Times

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) allotted a commercial plot in Liaquatabad 5 to a private bidder on throwaway price in an auction bid held on July 2, revealed KMC officials.

The plot, measuring 460 square yards is located in block 5, Liaquatabad. The officials said that the actual market price of the land was over Rs250 million (m) but it was auctions to a private bidder for Rs 137.9 m.

According to Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules, an auction above value of Rs 50 million is to be sent to government for approval of bid under approval for KMC Council. Moreover, the authorities should conduct auctions strictly according to Section 8 and of SPPR Land Rules 1975 and Auctioning Rules 2016.

The issue surfaced when a bidder namely Abdul Shamim approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) along with other bidders who participated in the auction. The bidders submitted, in their petition, that the plot should not be auctioned but given to former shop owners after their stores were demolished in the anti-encroachment drive.

This plot was evacuated on the order of a Supreme Court (SC)bench comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Faisal Arab. “The KMC Land Department is ignoring court proceedings on the pretext supporting winner of the auction bid”, Abdul Shamim and other petitioners submitted.

On the other hand, winners of auction bid Muhammad Shahid, Riffat Qadri, Sheikh Muhammad Bilal and others wrote to Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar on December 17 and informed him that they were no more interested in taking possession of the said plot since nobody from KMC had appeared at the SHC hearings where the case was under litigation under suit no 1380/2018 filed by Abdul Shamim and others. They also requested the mayor to make arrangements and issue directives to KMC Land Department to return their deposited amount of Rs 317.4 m, equivalent to 25 percent amount of total bid and reimburse them at the earliest. The mayor forwarded the requests of these bidders to Municipal Commissioner for relevant action.

The KMC Land Auction Committee comprises of Land Committee chairman Bilal Ahmed, deputy director, additional and directors of Land department, Lease director, Internal Audit director and senior Legal adviser.

In several parts of Liaquatabad adjacent to Riaz Girls College, Dak Khana Chowrangi and other areas, KMC land is being used for commercial activities by encroachers. A retired official of KMC was of the view that real auctioneers of KMC land in Liaquatabad area had been deprived of their rights of ownership and nothing was being done by KMC in this regard.

Published in Daily Times, December 21^st2018.