Builders, Fazaia Housing agree to return defrauded money: SHC tells NAB to hold inquiry against Fazaia Housing

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed chairman National Accountability Bureau to hold their inquiry against the Fazaia Housing Scheme as the private builder and the directorate of estate projects has agreed to refund all money and liabilities to the allottees of the project within six months.

The direction came inSHC order on petition of Musarat Nazir against the illegal arrest of Fazia housing scheme directors by the NAB and other identical petitions. The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha after hearing the arguments of the counsel of NAB and the private builders observed that private builders and directorate of estate projects have filed their affidavits and agreed to refund all the money and other liabilities to those allotted houses in the project within six months who paid substantial amounts of money in respect of their plots.

The court observed that although NAB did not favour such settlement and release of the directors to implement their undertaking but the court may pass appropriate order keeping in view the best interests of justice and the affectees.

The bench also observed that the concerns cheating public at large whereby the real losers are the victims who had invested their hard earned money in a housing scheme which cannot be constructed now. It also observed that the investing public are supportive of this settlement as they see this as their only realistic opportunity of getting back most if not all of their investment in a relatively short period of time. It said that if court rejected the settlement then it was extremely likely that it would turn out to be prolonged trial taking many years to conclude with no guarantees of any of those defrauded getting refund at all.

The SHC bench directed chairman NAB to hold the inquiry over the Fizaya Housing Scheme as the private builder and directorate of estate project return the defrauded money and all other liabilities of the project to the public in full in which case the the chairman NAB shall close the case. However they also instructed the anti graft organisation to revive their inquiry if they back out of the commitment within 6 months. The court also directed to release directors of the FHS Tanvir Ahmed and Bilal Tanvir so they refund of the claims of the allotees while directing putting their names on the ECL with immediate effect until the chairman NAB certifies clearance of dues.

NAB had earlier filed in the comments that inquiry has revealed that Fazaia housing scheme was illegally launched by the Pakistan Air Force in partnership with Maxim properties in 2015 on illegally consolidated/adjusted land in deh Allah Phihai, Taluka Shah Mureed district Malir. The management of FHS neither handed over the plots to the allotees nor did any significant development work while collecting Rs.18 billion from 6,000 affectees of this fraudulent scheme.