Cabinet approves JIT report on One Constitution Avenue, orders action
The federal cabinet has approved a JIT report on irregularities in the One Constitution Avenue project in Islamabad. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said victims will be compensated and NAB will investigate those responsible.
- Cabinet approved the JIT report on One Constitution Avenue on Wednesday.
- The report recommends re-auctioning the building and changing its name.
- NAB has been given three months to file references, Talal Chaudhry said.
- Ahsan Iqbal said victims will be compensated.
Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday that the federal cabinet had approved the report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on alleged irregularities in the One Constitution Avenue project in Islamabad. He spoke at a press conference in the capital alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry.
Iqbal said the prime minister had formed a committee to investigate the fraud. He said fraud was committed in the name of the project and that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was negligent in dealing with the irregularities. According to him, rules and regulations were ignored, and he said all legal requirements relating to the project would be fulfilled.
According to Daily Jang's report of the briefing, the JIT report recommends re-auctioning the building and giving it a new name. Daily Pakistan quoted Iqbal as saying the name was allegedly obtained through fraud. The report also says the auction process was manipulated and rules were relaxed to benefit someone, and that the project's paperwork was suspicious and based on forgery.
The report names former finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh as the alleged mastermind and recommends that his company be blacklisted. Other people named as responsible include Dr Faisal Kamran, Rai Nawaz Kharal, Kamran Lashari, Azhar Chaudhry and retired Brigadier Nasrullah, along with some CDA officials. The report says the bank guarantee requirement was removed, and that apartments were sold illegally after the project was approved as a five-star hotel.
Talal Chaudhry said NAB has been given three months to file references against those responsible. He said Shaikh's name is on the Exit Control List. He also said seven or eight people who did not appear before the inquiry to prove their claims include the PTI founder, Imran Khan. Chaudhry said people were defrauded because others facilitated it, and that those who were defrauded were not at fault.
Tarar said the JIT recommended sending its findings to NAB for further investigation, and that NAB would examine the matter on merit. He said the government would apply the law equally and that genuine investors would be protected. Iqbal said victims of the project will be compensated and that NAB will act against anyone involved in illegal acts, including CDA officials.
Iqbal also said the first building on Constitution Avenue belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which claims the address as its own. According to the report, the address was given to the project only for marketing purposes. He said the FIA continued investigations during the tenures of Chaudhry Nisar and himself.
Background
khabr.pk reported on 5 November that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the government had legally taken possession of One Constitution Avenue and plans to turn it into a five-star hotel in the coming months. That report also said the cabinet had approved a JIT report that found irregularities in the project.
Why it matters
People who bought apartments in One Constitution Avenue are directly affected, as the government says victims will be compensated and genuine investors protected. The recommendation to re-auction the building and rename it affects the status of the project. The case also bears on buyers in Islamabad's other housing schemes, since the minister blamed CDA negligence for the irregularities.
