Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the auction of sites for five-star hotels, on November 13, and restrained the Capital Development Authority (CDA) from continuing with the auction, originally to be held on November 16-17, until the hearing next week.
According to a news source, the particular of the sites, located in the Blue Area between Sectors F-9 and G-9, Murree Road, and the northern strip of E-11, was challenged by a petition filed by Advocate Arafat Ahmed, acting as a public interest litigant in his personal capacity.
Advocate Ahmed said the CDA was auctioning off these sites to a “blue-eyed party” and offered the floor area very generously with permission to build 100-storey high buildings. Furthermore, the CDA had specifically inserted a clause that 20% of the land on these sites could be used for commercial purposes, simply to give the “blue-eyed party” an unfair advantage.
According to him, the authority had auctioned plots for building luxury hotels in the past. Many of these plots never saw hotels being built and were used for other purposes
