NAB courts in Lahore asked to pay Rs63m arrears

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works has taken notice of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Courts operating in the Federal Lodge, Wafaqi Colony, Lahore, without paying rent since March 2021 as arrears have now reached Rs63.378 million.

The committee has set a one-week deadline for payment, warning that the courts will be required to vacate the premises if they fail to comply. Chaired by Senator Nasir Mehmood, the committee also flagged decades-long irregularities, unpaid rents, and stalled housing projects, setting strict deadlines for compliance and accountability.

According to the Housing Ministry, repeated requests to the Ministry of Law and Justice through official memoranda dated May 14, June 24, and July 1, 2025 to clear the dues and vacate the premises have gone unanswered. During a July 9 meeting, the Law Ministry requested that the rent be waived and the property title transferred permanently. The Housing Ministry reiterated its demand for immediate payment. The committee also expressed concern over the Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation’s (PHAF) occupation of office space in the Shaheed-e-Millat Secretariat without a legal agreement for 26 years. The PHAF was given two weeks to formalize an agreement and begin paying rent. “It is unacceptable that such blatant disregard for procedure persisted for over two decades without intervention,” remarked the chairman.

Senator Humayun Mohmand’s starred question on the Lifestyle Residency project was discussed in detail. Delays were attributed to the weak financial position of the joint venture partner, persistent disputes between Progressive and Granite, excessive control granted to the partner, and the illness and subsequent death of the contractor in December 2022. Two attempts to restart work through fresh tenders have failed, and the matter has been deferred pending the final audit report.

Responding to a petition for creating a BS-19 director post in the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), officials said no new posts were being created and the focus remains on “right-sizing” existing structures.

The FIA briefed the committee on corruption cases in the housing sector over the past decade. It reported registering 316 enquiries and 22 cases against the Ministry of Housing & Works and its attached departments. Of these, 216 enquiries were closed, 80 remain under investigation, 18 FIRs have been challaned, and four are still pending. For Pak-PWD alone, 220 enquiries were registered, with 23 arrests made and 10 private suspects still at large.

On the Sky Gardens project a joint venture between FGEHA and M/s Commoners Sky Garden (CSG) involving over 6,200 kanals in Mauza Kathar and Mauza Mangal, the committee was told that while the NAB cleared both sites in 2022, litigation over Mauza Mangal land continued in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench. Infrastructure work is ongoing, with 35% progress in Package-I and 37% in Package-II.