FIA submits report on housing schemes in SC

ISLAMABAD .: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has told the Supreme Court that 6,000 ‘unregistered, illegal, ghost and paper’ housing societies have been found in the country.

On May 8, 2017, the top court expressed concern over the plundering of hard earned money of the innocent public by the management of Housing Societies on a massive scale throughout the country.

The court had constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising representatives of FIA, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Anti-Corruption Agencies. The JIT was asked to conduct an audit of private and state societies.
The JIT faced difficulties to obtain information as Housing Societies were not cooperating. Similarly, they had filed a number of writ petitions in the courts. The report said that a total of 2,767 housing societies are operational in the country, wherein 711 are cooperative societies and 2,056 are registered companies.

The housing societies operational are 84 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,188 in Punjab, 1,380 in Sindh, 78 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and 37 in Balochistan. No Cooperative Housing Society was established in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), while seven societies are registered in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), but none are functional, said the report.

It is also submitted that the JIT has conducted an audit of 695 Housing Societies, wherein it has been found that the numbers of societies have extended beyond their approved area without any prior approval. Graveyard land is being sold in the shape of plots to the general public. In case of extension of society, graveyard land is continuously shifted from one place to other without any approval.

The report further states that electricity connection approved for a society sub-division is being used in its extension without payment of new demand notices. Gas, electricity and other utilities are not provided by the developer within a specific time. The balloting of plots was done without the approval of regulator and the extension was announced by society without purchasing the land. Moreover, the quality of the infrastructure was not up to the mark.

The JIT also informed that 4,680 ghost and unregistered housing societies have been found in Punjab. Moreover, similar housing societies have been found in other provinces. There are 12 similar societies in Islamabad, 967 in Sindh, 221 in Balochistan and 120 in K-P.

“Since the schemes are only established to fleece money from the unsuspecting members of the public, specific actions are required to be taken against these schemes”, said the report.

It is proposed that public notices should be issued in the press regarding the status of unregistered housing schemes by the district administration. Similarly, the State Bank of Pakistan governor should be requested to issue directions to the scheduled banks not to open accounts of illegal housing schemes. District collectors should ban land transactions in illegal or unapproved housing schemes. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) should also be requested to direct all TV channels not to advertise any housing scheme which does not have the requisite NOC from the concerned government department.

The police department has also been requested to register FIRs against the owners of illegal private housing schemes. Likewise, Chief Executives of IESCO, GM, SNGP, PTCL have also been requested not to extend their services to the illegal private housing schemes.

The JIT told the apex court that litigation is the main hurdle in conducting audits of housing societies. As many as 26 writ petitions have been filed by developers of different housing societies before the Lahore High Court, where status quo has been granted.

Source: Express Tribune