New details emerge before IHC hearing in One Constitution project case

ISLAMABAD: Fresh material has surfaced in the court record ahead of the Islamabad High Court’s resumption of proceedings on Monday in the high-profile One Constitution project case, including a 2012 interim arbitration award and documents relating to the project’s disputed lease and apartment allotments.

According to the record, the interim arbitration award was issued on September 13, 2012, by incumbent Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Mian Hamid Javed, a former president of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The award was intended to settle differences between Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of M BNP and Nadeem Zia Pirzada of M/s Paragon over the five-star hotel project.

Arbitration award placed on record

The settlement available in the record states that BNP’s eventual ownership was to stand at 75 per cent with Sheikh and 25 per cent with Pirzada, subject to a forensic audit to determine financial contributions, loans and liabilities. The award also recorded that bank borrowing obtained by Sheikh and his family for the hotel project had been secured against properties of Pirzada’s family in Paragon City, and that these were to be counted as Pirzada’s contribution.

At the same time, Sheikh’s costs and markup were credited to him under the arrangement. The award further stated that Pirzada would have no claim over BNP assets unrelated to the hotel project that existed before July 2005. It also provided for BNP to be run through professional management so that it could operate independently.

The record shows that final transfer of shares was made conditional on completion of the audit, repayment of loans and settlement of pending court cases.

Earlier petition and lease restoration

In a related matter, the court file also contains a petition involving a dispute between BNP and the Bank of Punjab. The documents show that Ejazul Ahsan, who later became a judge of the Supreme Court, had signed that petition as counsel for BNP.

The record further notes that Justice Ahsan was later part of an Islamabad High Court bench that restored the disputed lease of the One Constitution Avenue project despite objections raised by the Capital Development Authority. That restoration, according to the material before the court, enabled the creation of third-party interests, after which the builder handed over 240 flats to buyers following the revival of the lease.

List of allottees in court record

Documents placed before the court also contain a list of buyers of the 240 flats allotted in the project. The record identifies the allottees as including a former acting president of Pakistan who served two non-consecutive terms, a former Senate chairman, a former prime minister, two former chief justices of Pakistan, a former chief justice of the Lahore High Court and a former defence minister.

The list also includes the son of the current defence minister, a former chief minister of Balochistan, several serving federal ministers, a former air chief, two former naval chiefs, a retired lieutenant general, a former foreign secretary and a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.

According to the documents, other allottees include a former interior and law minister, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, a former chairman of Pemra, a former chairman ICC, senior journalists, prominent lawyers, leading doctors, major businessmen, overseas Pakistanis, foreign nationals, foreign companies and a bank owned by a provincial government, among others.

The Islamabad High Court is set to take up the matter again on Monday as these details form part of the record in the ongoing proceedings concerning the One Constitution project.