HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) avoided submitting record of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) relating to 80-acres state land given to Bahria Town in the Sarmast zone of the HDA.

The record was to be submitted to NAB on July 21, but nobody appeared before the bureau.

NAB Deputy Director (coordination) Waqar Awan addressed to the HDA DG on July 10, containing four points relating to the state land record. These details required to be submitted to the NAB, including the record of allotment of the state land to Bahria Town, details of officers/ officials of the HDA who approved the said allotment,complete record/ detail of payment made by Bahria Town against the state land along with the copies of the charge sheet and any other information/ record in respect of the above state land.

The record was sought in line with Section 19 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 as part ofaninquiry againstthe Hyderabad Development Authority DG and others regarding allotment of the state land to Bahria Town. The record primarily, according to HDA officials, deal with the allotment of the land regarding a university which was being established on the request of the then Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) a decade back.

Officials said that following the July 10 letter, acting HDA DG Aslam Kazi addressed a letter to the HDA`s director ofPlanning & Development Control (P&DC) to furnish the required details to the concerned quarters on July 21. But neither P&DC Director Abdul Majid Khokhar nor any other official appeared before the NAB on Monday.

Khokhar`s contention was that Land Management Director Ghulam Hyder Arain was to make correspondence with the HDA DG directly to avoid any adverse orders from the court.

He said he was lately asked by the acting DG to provide record to the NAB in Karachi because he was currently present in Karachi.

HDA officials told Dawn that land`s cost was around 360m and Bahria Town had made part payment to the HAD, but Rs160m was still outstanding against it.

The university`s grey structure was raised by a developer but itwas left half way following the Aug 22, 2016, episode of incendiary speech of Altaf Hussain.

Bahria Town had been approached by the HDA, said one official, to make the remaining payment to the HDA but such payment was not made yet.

After the July 10`s letter when the land management director was asked to appear before the NAB along with the record, he submitted an application on July 22 for three days leave to the acting HDA DG but the same had been turned down.

HDA DG Ghangro himself proceeded on leave on July 11 for a fortnight.

Separately, the NAB was also conducting inquiry in response to a complaint submitted by a local political party officebearer against the then HDA director coordination Abdul Manan Shaikh. The NAB issueda three-page letter on July 9 to the HDA DG as well, containing specific queries about Manan along with relevant documents.

The July 9 letter was basically a questionnaire as per standard operating procedure for the NAB`s inquiry. It was said to have been drafted by the NAB and addressed to the HDA DG in response to comments submitted by DG Ghangro to the NAB.

But documents sought through the July 9 questionnaire were not submitted by the HDA DG yet.

Those commentsalsoincluded a note written for the NAB which prompted the watchdog to seek answers from the HDA DG.

According to Manan, he had submitted his replies in March to the NAB as per notice and now the HDA DG has to submit his replies in line with the July 9 correspondence.