Malir Development Authority currently has no land for allocation, SHC told

The Malir Development Authority (MDA) currently possesses no land for allocation and the authority’s mandate is now only confined to the development of three specific schemes, a counsel for the MDA told the Sindh High Court.

During the hearing of the petition with regard to the allotment of agriculture land, the MDA counsel informed the high court that the authority’s mandate was now confined to the development of three specific schemes — Malir Housing Scheme-I, Shah Latif Town Scheme 25-A and Taiser Town Scheme-45.

A division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Mohammad Abdur Rahman observed the preamble of the MDA Act 1993 revealed that the law was enacted to facilitate the development of designated areas within the Karachi division to enhance the socio-economic conditions of inhabitants therein and constitute an authority tasked with this mandate.

The high court observed that the preamble and the provisions of the Act of 1993 collectively established a thorough and definitive framework for the implementation of the Act’s principal objectives and schemes.

The bench remarked that the issue in question related to the operations of the MDA and it was prudent to scrutinise the relevant sections of the law.

The high court directed the MDA director general (DG) to furnish a detailed and comprehensive report concerning the initiation and progression of various schemes, development projects, programmes, agricultural schemes, poultry, fruits, vegetables and pan farming, as well as agricultural research and plant protection measures, since the inception of the 1993 Act.

The court ordered that the report shall contain details whether the essential objectives, purposes and schemes delineated in the Act of 1993 had been implemented with rigorous adherence to both the explicit provisions and the underlying intent of the statute, particularly concerning the socioeconomic advancement of the populace of the region from its inception.

The SHC observed that report must include comprehensive particulars with regard to the allocation of the MDA’s funds, delineating the methods of fund management, utilisation and whether any portion of these funds had been allocated to profitable ventures.

The bench also directed the MDA DG to submit a notification pertaining to the authority’s criteria for the allotment of plots and land as well as the mechanisms employed in the balloting process over the past six years.

Regarding the petitioners’ land, the high court observed that it appeared that these schemes were originally initiated by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA). The bench directed the KDA DG to submit a report concerning the acquisition of the land in question, if such acquisition had occurred.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that the title to the agricultural land in question was duly conferred upon the petitioners by the MDA under the auspices of the MDA Scheme No 45. Consequently, the petitioners demanded either the entitlement to an alternative plot or as an alternative, monetary compensation.

The MDA’s counsel submitted that the petitioners were unlawfully occupying the land in question and the scheme was originally launched by the KDA but was subsequently transferred to the MDA.

He said the MDA had conducted plot allocations through balloting process and was obligated to develop the project, having collected funds from the participants for this purpose. The court adjourned the hearing till April 25.