SC rejects Bahria Town’s application seeking delay in payment of land price for 3 years

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an application of Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd Karachi (BTLK) seeking a three-year delay in the payments .

BTLL had agreed to pay the total Rs460 billion for purchasing prime land in Karachi.

In an application filed on Tuesday, BTLK had asked freezing of the payment plan issued by the SC in view of pandemic-related recession, requesting that the payment of Rs2.5bn monthly installments be deferred for three years — till September 2023.

The application filed by senior counsel Syed Ali Zafar on behalf of the BTLK and its owner Malik Riaz Hussain was heard by a three bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The BTLK counsel argued in the court today that businesses the world over had been devastated due to the coronavirus pandemic and according to economic reports, hundreds of thousands of people had been rendered jobless.

Justice Munib Akhtar asked the lawyer to explain what losses had Bahria Town suffered due to the pandemic and not other businesses.

Justice Ahsan also made a similar remarks, telling the counsel that “The government is saying that the economy has come back on track. Bahria Town should show its own figures, not of the world.”

Bahria Town had already sold off its Karachi project, the judge noted.

The counsel suggested that BTLK’s operations had been badly harmed by the economic downturn as well.

But the bench remained unconvinced, with Justice Akhtar saying that the “Supreme Court is not a bank where concession can be obtained through negotiations.”

The court finally rejected BTLK’s application through a short order, saying the detailed verdict on the plea will be issued later.

The BTLK is supposed to furnish before the Supreme Court Rs2.5bn by the seventh of every month.