' IFTIKHAR MUHAMMAD CHAUDHRY, C.J.---The Director-General of Lahore Development Authority submits that appeal filed by the said Authority before a learned Additional District Judge at Lahore against an order of Rai Naeem Ahmed Kharal, learned Civil Judge at Lahore passing a restraint order against the said Authority on an application filed by the sponsor of Venus Housing Scheme, namely, Mian Shahbaz Ahmed had since been disposed of and thus no impediment stood in the way of the L.D.A. In discharging its obligations towards the residents of the said Scheme.
2. The said Director General of L.D.A. Adds that a survey had already been carried out regarding the amenities required to be provided to the residents of the said Venus Housing Scheme by the sponsor thereof and the cost of the left over work which was required to be completed had been estimated at about Rs,100 million. Further, submits that 81 plots in the said Scheme stand mortgaged with the L.D.A. For such an eventuality and the said cost of the left over work of the scheme could be met from the sale of the said mortgaged plots. Also submits that the L.D.A. Was in a position to commence the completion of the said works immediately without waiting for the sale of the said plots from which sale the authority could then reimburse itself with the costs incurred by it.
3. The above mentioned sponsor of the said scheme, namely, Mian Shahbaz Ahmed who has been produced before us in police custody being under arrest in connection with F. I.R. Nos. 1275 and 1276 of 2010 of Police Station Kot Lakhpat, however, claims that the major portion of the development work had already been completed; that the price of the above mentioned mortgaged plots was more than Rs,50 crore and further that he was ready to complete the left over work himself.
4. The scheme in question had been launched by the said sponsor and sanctioned by the L.D.A. In the year 1982 i.e. Almost 30 years ago. In view of the grievances raised by the residents of the said scheme who had purchased plot therein on the strength of the sanctioning of the scheme by a responsible competent authority i.e. The L.D.A. And in view of the report of the L.D.A. Itself regarding the provision of the requisite amenities including the building of roads, providing the electricity in the scheme, the provision for sewerage etc., and in view of the past conduct of the above mentioned sponsor spreading over a long period stretching over almost three decades, we do not consider it appropriate or advisable to trust the said sponsor any further. Consequently, the L.D.A. Is allowed to undertake the provision of the amenities which the sponsor was legally obliged to provide to the residents of the said scheme which, needless to say, will have to be done by the L.D.A. In a highly transparent manner. It is consequently ordered as under:--
(a) before commencement of the work in question, the L.D.A. Shall, once again, carry out a physical survey of the scheme in the presence of Mian Shahbaz Ahmed and if he continues to be in custody till then, the person or the authority in whose custody he be at the said time, is ordered to make him available to the relevant L.D.A. Authorities for the said purpose on a written request by the Director General of the L.D.A. Under his personal signatures;
(b) the development work in question shall be carried out, as has been mentioned above, honestly and in a transparent manner;
(c) the sponsor of the scheme, namely, Mian Shahbaz Ahmad shall be associated with the sale of the mortgaged plots to meet the costs of the said development work and a responsible evaluator may also be appointed to assess the market value of the said mortgaged plots before the same are actually sold;
(d) if any amount or money becomes surplus on completion of the said works, the same shall be paid to the sponsor/mortgagor in accordance with law;
(e) and if some plots become surplus and are not required to be sold then the status of the said surplus mortgaged plots shall be settled between the L.D.A. And the sponsor in accordance with the terms of the agreement already reached between the said parties at the time of sanctioning of the scheme and the law; and
(f) the D.G. Of L.D.A. Shall personally supervise the development work in question and ensure that the grievances of the residents are redressed according to the terms and conditions of the agreement between the L.D.A. And the said sponsor and also according to the terms and conditions and the assurances on which the sponsor had sold the plots in the said society to them.
5. Before we part with this order, we would like to bring on record that it was on account of complaints of dishonesty, cheating and malfeasance against the sponsors of Venus Housing Scheme by a fairly large number of residents/owners and purchasers of plots of the said scheme and similar grievances voiced by the like residents of other such-like schemes that we have taken up this matter in discharge of the obligations cast on this Court under Article 184 of the Constitution being a matter of public importance involving, inter alia, breach of the fundamental rights of the people to life and to property While some sponsors and promoters of Housing schemes may well be doing some good service to the people but then some others, not as scrupulous, induce people to part with their hard-earned life savings on the strength of the sanctions procured for their schemes from the concerned local authorities e.g. The Lahore Development Authority for the Lahore area, the Cantonment Boards and such-like other regulatory authorities and the people so trapped, find them, to their horror that the lands on which such schemes were claimed to be developed either did not belong to the developers or were under litigation and where the lands did belong to such-like promoters, then the promised indispensable and requisite facilities such as internal roads, connectivity to and access to public roads, sewerage, electricity and gas etc. Were not provided. Needless to say that whenever and wherever such-like frauds are committed, it is not just the sponsors of the concerned schemes who are liable for the same but even the concerned sanctioning and regulatory authorities are equally liable and responsible for it. Having noticed what we have not just in this case, but in some other cases also, which have come up before us, we feel that some guidelines and directions need to be issued to protect the interests and the rights of the innocent victims of the unscruplous sponsors of such-like societies. It is therefore, stated and ordered as under:--
(a) since the sanctioning of the housing schemes falls within the competence of the concerned and legally designated local authorities and since it is on account of such-like sanctions and permission accorded by these regulatory authorities that the people feel assured of the genuineness of the schemes and the reliability of the sponsors and consequently invest their moneys therein, therefore, such-like sanctioning and regulatory authorities are required, legally and morally, to exercise the maximum care, caution and the due diligence in the matter of granting sanctions and permission for the launching of such schemes;
(b) and after the requisite sanction has been accorded, it becomes the obligation of the sanctioning authority to ensure that the conditions on which such a sanction was granted and the terms and conditions on which the plots were then sold to the people were honestly, scrupulously and fully satisfied and where it was not so done, then such an authority must, immediately and effectively, intervene to rectify the wrong;
(c) while processing an application for the grant of such a sanction, the sanctioning authority must ensure that the area of land on which such a scheme is proposed to be established was a viable unit; that the land was undisputably available for the setting up of such a scheme and was free from all kinds of litigation and encumbrances and that the same was available to be validly and legally transferred to the purchasers of the plots;
(d) the concerned regulatory authority must also examine the financial capacity of the sponsor/sponsors to find out whether he/they would be able to undertake the project and should also find out the know-how available with them for the purpose;
(e) it would also be one of the essential duties of the sanctioning authority to ensure that the land where a housing project was sought to be set up was not land-locked and free access to the main public roads outside was available for the residents and others before such a scheme was sanctioned because we have come across cases where the housing colonies get land-locked causing immeasurable hardship to the residents which then leads to un-ending litigation with other housing schemes for passage through them; ' we have also seen cases where a sanctioned scheme exists and then sanction is granted to another housing scheme which blocks access to the residents and visitors of their earlier existing colony to the main public roads. While according sanction to a housing scheme, it must also be ensured that it does not cause land-locking of another scheme and in such a situation a condition of guaranteeing free passage to the earlier scheme could be imposed or some other reasonable arrangement should be made for the purpose; and
(g) likewise the sanctioning authority must also check the provision for sewerage disposal or the connectivity of the sewerage disposal with some main drain.
7. We may add and clarify that the guidelines and directions above-noticed are only illustrative and should not be taken as exhaustive of all the steps which would be required to be taken in the matter in issue. And we must reiterate that the sanctioning and the regulatory authorities need to be vigilant and diligent to check exploitation of the people by unscruplous exploiters in the name of housing schemes and moreso by abusing the trusted names of the regulatory and sanctioning authorities.
8. We have also noticed that the obligation cast on the sponsors of housing schemes are being regulated by the sanctioning authorities only through mere agreements between the said authorities and the sponsor/promoters of the said schemes. The concerned authorities must examine, under the guidance of the Secretaries of the concerned administrative departments and ministries and also under the guidance of the Chief Secretaries of the respective governments, whether such-like agreements were sufficient to ensure protection of the rights of the purchasers of plots and of the residents of such-like societies in such-like schemes and also to ensure due discharge by the sponsors of their obligations. And if not, then the respective governments may consider regulation of the matter through legislation.
9. Copies of this order shall be sent to the Chief Secretaries of all the Provinces and also to the Chief Commissioner of the Islamabad Capital Territory who shall circulate copies of the same to all the authorities within their respective jurisdiction which are involved in and are empowered to sanction private housing schemes. They are also directed to ensure compliance of the same.
10. The Director-General of Lahore Development Authority shall send monthly progress reports to the Registrar of this Court in the matter of Venus Housing Scheme and also a report about the facilities and amenities made available to the residents of other housing schemes within his jurisdiction.
11. This matter stands disposed of in the above terms.