Islamabad, Aug 27: An individual in Islamabad was given 22 residential plots by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) under dubious circumstances, according to an audit report for 2023–2024. Significant questions regarding possible wrongdoing inside the civic agency and procedural flaws have been brought up by this case.
The audit report, titled “Doubtful Allotment of 22 Residential Plots,” describes how the CDA approved the allocation of 22 plots to a single person without objecting, despite the fact that the individual changed both his and his father’s names. Normally, the CDA requires extensive documentation for even a five-marla plot.
These plots were given to the individual in question in return for 84 kanals of land that the CDA had purchased in Sector D-13, Islamabad. A developed plot of one kanal is granted for every four kanals of land acquired, in accordance with the CDA Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Regulation of 2007.
The land, which is 88 kanals and six marlas in size, was first registered in the name of Mohammad Akhtar Tahir, who is the son of Mohammad Ashraf Tahir, according to the audit report. On the other hand, in accordance with his new CNIC issued by Nadra, the owner requested to alter his name to Mohammad Azhar, son of Mirza Mohammad Ali, with the CDA. The allotment under this new identification was approved by the CDA.
The audit found that the land revenue records, including the land award, Naqsha-II, and Fard, were not adjusted in accordance with the allocation, which was done only on the basis of the CNIC. Furthermore, no “nikahnama,” certifications, degrees of education, or police reports were verified. Because this allotment lacked an official title, the audit report considered it questionable.
The ownership had remained stated under Muhammad Akhtar in the land revenue documents even after the name change. Due to this disparity, 22 plots for a total of about Rs440 million—22 plots at Rs20 million each—were dubiously allotted without careful inspection or a fact-finding investigation to determine who the true owner was.
These anomalies were discovered during the audit in June 2023. The CDA retorted that Nadra was ordered by a Lahore civil judge in 2016 to revoke the CNIC that had been issued in Mohammad Akhtar’s name. According to reports, the deputy commissioner of the CDA updated the revenue records appropriately.
Nevertheless, the audit report disregarded the CDA’s answer, stating that there was insufficient supporting documentation.
Moreover, despite multiple requests in October, November, and December of 2023, the principal accounting officer failed to call the Departmental Audit Committee meeting that might have addressed these problems. In order to support the allotment in favor of the new allottee, the audit has advised that the CDA provide the whole case file, including the civil judge’s ruling and specifics of the name change in the DC CDA records.
