LAHORE: Citizens continue to face tremendous difficulty obtaining their rightful plots from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), according to a report by The News.
As per LDA sources, several cases involving people who bought plots in LDA auctions and even made advance payments but never received possessions have been pending at the Authority.
Additionally, LDA subsequently either canceled the auction or annulled the allotment through the auction for multiple vague reasons.
According to reports, the Authority’s recently-held 5th meeting discussed a matter identical to the mentioned case and instructed the Director General LDA to follow the court’s order dated 02/10/2013.
The details of the case revealed that Haji Bashir Khan, the son of Haji Hassan Khan, who bought two plots in Khyber Block (Allama Iqbal Town) in a 2004 LDA auction, has ever since been pursuing a legal battle for possession but to no avail.
According to the case’s summary, commercial plots Nos. 289-A/5 and 289-A/6 in Khyber Block, Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore, were offered for sale in an open auction on December 23, 2004, with bid starting prices of Rs. 275,000 per marla for each property.
Consequently, the highest bid was made by Haji Bashir Khan for Rs. 372,000 and Rs. 375,000 per marla, respectively. Then, as 20% of the advance cost of the property, the buyer made deposits of Rs. 380,000 and Rs. 385,000, respectively, for the two plots indicated above.
Later, the case was brought before the LDA Auction Committee, which gave its recommendation that the bid was recognized as reasonable and referred it to the appropriate authority, the then DG LDA, on January 2, 2005.
But on March 18, 2005, the competent body rejected the proposal, and on April 4, 2005, the bidder received a letter of refusal and was told to request a refund from the Director of Finance at the LDA.
Haji Bashir filed a civil lawsuit, claiming that he took part in the auction, offering the highest bids and 20% advance payment for the plots.
He asserted that the bid could not be rejected after 30 days as per the auction’s advertisement if it was not accepted within that time.
The court of civil judge Lahore decreed the aforementioned suit as requested in favor of the plaintiff via ruling dated 02-10-2013, to which LDA filed an appeal RFA No. 492/2014 with the Registrar of the Lahore High Court, who then forwarded it to the District and Sessions Judge Lahore.
Furthermore, LDA then filed Civil Revision No. 216663/18, captioned “LDA vs. Haji Bashir Ahmed Khan,” after it was dismissed by the Additional District Judge and is currently in progress before the Lahore High Court.
In return, the plaintiff decree holder filed an execution petition titled “Haji Bashir Khan vs LDA,” in which the executing court of civil judge issued bailable warrants for the DG LDA and non-bailable arrest warrants for the concerned Deputy Director, LDA, ordering to comply with the court decree dated 02-10-2013.
The executing court also expressed concern about the non-compliance with the decree dated February 10, 2013, and strictly ordered implementation until the next hearing date.
The Authority permitted conditional execution of the decree in order to avoid the awkward situation as an appeal is already pending in the Lahore High Court.
