NA speaker’s brother not paying Rs146m rent of govt club

By Kasim Abbasi
January 22, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Adnan Khan, brother of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar, has been forcibly occupying a government-owned bowling club in a prime location of Islamabad and is refusing to pay the rent worth Rs 146 million for the last two years, official documents reveal.

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Recently, the Municipal Corporation Islamabad issued a final warning notice to Adnan Khan for violating the agreement and asked him to immediately evacuate the premises and pay the due amount. Interestingly, the CDA official who issued the final warning notice to Adnan has been removed from the post within a week and transferred to some other department.

A top government official told The News on condition of anonymity that Asad Qaisar’s brother is exerting pressure on the authorities concerned to stop them from retrieving both the Mega Zone (A bowling club in F-9 Park) and the due amount.

Adnan Khan, in response to these allegations, told The News that the contract for the club was awarded to him in 2019 and he paid the first year lease amount upfront right after the possession of the government property. However, due to Covid-19, the business facility remained closed half of the time due to which he is unable to pay the rent.

In 2019, the CDA had signed an agreement with Liaquat Ali for running the mega zone bowling club in F-9 Park a prime location in the capital city. According to the terms and conditions of the agreement, Liaquat could not sublet the bowling club to any other party without prior approval of the CDA. The lease amount as per the agreement was fixed at Rs 62 million annually which was paid to the civic body in advance for the first year.

Liaquat told The News that after the agreement, he renovated the facility and ran the club for a month only and then due to illness and later after an accident, he went into coma. Once he recovered from coma, he found that Adnan Khan (NA speaker’s brother) and Fazl have taken over the club.

As per Clause 10 of the initial agreement between the Capital Development Authority and Liaquat, the lessee cannot sublet the site to any other party. Moreover, Clause 19 of the contract clearly states that the lease amount for the second year shall be deposited one month prior to the end of the first year of the lease.

After entering into this contract, on 01-01-2020, the then lessee Liaquat Ali & Co (Pvt) Ltd inked a partnership deed wherein the Mega Zone was renamed as Leisure Arena, F-9 Park, and it was explained that the business contained an investment of 55% of Fazl Muhammad and 45 % of CEO Liaquat Ali.

In this partnership deed, Adnan Khan s/o Sardar Bahadur is a witness. On 23-01-2020, another power of attorney was executed where the shares in the business of M/s Liaquat Ali & Co (Pvt) Ltd were reduced to 7.5 % while the shares of Fazl Muhammad remained the same, however, two new partners emerged namely Dr Imranullah Khan having 30% shares and Sharak Khan with shares of 7.5 %. In the said deed, M/s Liaquat Ali & Co (PVT) Ltd, the original lessee, was asked to sell his 7.5% shares to other partners and leave the business. For this purpose, a committee (Jirga) was constituted which consisted of Adnan Khan and Amer Nadir Khan. It was decided that the Jirga has the power to transfer the business in the name of Fazl Muhammad and others.

However, the principal contractor, Liaquat Ali, who signed the agreement with the CDA has negated the signing of any power of attorney or deed with the Jirga. According to Liaquat, Fazl and his silent partner Adnan Khan through an alleged fake power of attorney took over the club. He claimed the power of attorney and alleged fake agreement on the basis of which Fazl took over the club bears his fake signatures.

The agreement signed before the Jirga which Liaquat claims a fake and forged document suggests that Liaquat received Rs 20 million from Fazl to pay the CDA dues. However, instead of paying the lease amount, he spent the money somewhere else. Later, he handed over a cheque to Fazl for withdrawing the money from his account. However, the cheques were bounced and Liaquat was sent to jail.

Official sources told this correspondent that Adnan Khan and Fazl Muhammad (major partner of Mega Zone) have used Liaquat Ali as a front man and are now using him as a scapegoat as he is the principal contractor.

The documents available with this correspondent reveal that on 28-08-2019, the manager Projects DMA (MCI) gave a licence to them for the management of Mega Zone/Bowling Club at F-9 Park Islamabad at Rs 62 million per annum with 10% increase every year for a period of two years further extendable for one year on the satisfaction of the DMA.

Upon violation of the agreement by Adnan Khan and others for not paying the rent for the second year, the Capital administration wrote four letters to Mega Zone on 29-10-2020, 09-11-2020, 18-11-2020 and 27-11-2020 respectively for the payment of outstanding dues on account of the contract of the bowling club. As the government failed to retrieve rental money from Mega Zone, a final warning was then issued by the MCI dated 12-01-2022.

Talking to The News, Adnan Khan said that due to the lockdown during the pandemic, the business facility remained mostly inactive. “Apart from this, I spent millions of rupees on the maintenance of the club. We are at loss, why should we pay the amount when the bowling club was closed half of the time,” he said, adding that they have filed a case in the court.

When questioned about the transfer of the director Municipal Cooperation, Adnan first said the director’s transfer orders were made prior to the issuance of the final warning notice. However, upon showing him the dates of the warning notice and transfer orders, he said they have no concerns with the transfer of the official.

Talking about Liaquat Ali, he said he is a fraud and has issued bounced cheques with fake CNICs for which he was sent to jail. On October 28, 2021, Fazl Muhammad, the second partner of the club and close associate of Adnan Khan, filed a petition in the court of the district judge Islamabad and appealed for relaxation in the terms of the contract because of the Covid-19 and its impact on the business community. Fazl, in his petition, claimed that they spent around Rs 53.8 million on the bowling club for its upgradation. He appealed to the court for arbitration between them and the government and restraining the authorities from taking possession of the premises or entertaining a new tender/auction.

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