Has Imran Khan regularised his Banigala house?

• Records show former premier Imran Khan has not yet met prerequisites for amended regularisation rules.
• Show Imran informed the CDA about 1,1371.09 sqft covered area on ground floor of his house.
• CDA says multiple advertisements have been published for regularisation of houses in Banigala.

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan is yet to regularise his Banigala residence from the CDA despite the Supreme Court orders, suggest documents and the civic body’s official response.

It is believed that after paying regularisation fees, Imran Khan’s Banigala house has been regularised and legal now. However, official documents show the former premier did not meet the prerequisites for regularisation rules amended in his own tenure.

Imran Khan had paid Rs1.2 million for the regularisation of his 300-kanal house to the Capital Development Authority March 3, 2020. According to official documents, he informed the CDA body that there is 1,1371.09 square feet covered area on the ground floor of his house. 

By calculating the scrutiny and regularisation fee without approval charges of the building construction, the CDA had charged Rs1,206,000 for the ground floor of his house. However, the regularisation of the entire layout of his 300-kanal house is subject to meeting the other conditions specified in Clause 8.22 of the ICT Building Control Rules (BCR) 2020. Even after all the prerequisites are met, the approval will be granted on the recommendations of a consultant to be hired by the CDA, The News reported.

Officials in the civic body said that the regularisation process involves a system. This process is complete only after approval of the site area along with fee calculation. The site includes the total area, and location of the particular house with specified setbacks, front, rear, sides, and linkage with the main access road as approval is given in the context of the entire layout of the site and not just the building.

It is pertinent to mention that Imran Khan had written a letter to the then chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar, drawing his attention to illegal constructions and municipal lawlessness in Banigala. Then the CDA informed the Supreme Court that Imran Khan’s own house was illegal. The apex court had then ordered the civic body to regularise the houses in the area, including that of Khan’s.

Apart from Imran Khan, many other notables had approached the CDA to benefit from the Supreme Court orders to get their houses in Banigala regularised. Those who had approached the CDA included Tariq Fatemi, Brig Waseem Iftikhar Cheema, and Ihsan Ghani.

When contacted, the CDA in its written response said that so far building plans of 17 structures had been approved after their owners completed all documentation required vide ICT BCR 2020. It said approximately it had received Rs6 million so far on account of regularisation of residential properties in the Banigala area.

“More than 250 houses have applied for regularisation but they haven’t yet fulfilled pre-conditions or do not complete criteria as per bylaws like scrutiny of land documents, determination of zone and applicability of special environmental or planning parameters.”

“However, multiple advertisements have been published for regularisation of houses and notices served on the houses in Banigala,” the CDA informed.

Replying to a question about Imran Khan’s house, the CDA said: “The approval in question was granted in accordance with clause 8.22 of ICT-BCR 2020 after charging an amount of Rs1,206,000 on account of construction without approval at Rs100 per sft and approval scrutiny fee at Rs6 per sft. This approval is conditional and final approval/completion is subject to recommendations of a consultant to be hired.”

In response to a questionnaire sent to PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, he said: “Since The News represents the PML-N Media Strategic Cell, PTI is of the view that any interaction with The News is a waste of time….. thx u [thankyou].”

This scribe also sent the same questionnaire to PTI leader Farrukh Habib who asked the queries be sent to Senator Shibli Faraz. Senator Shibli Faraz was sent the questionnaire but he did not respond.

Originally published in The News