Irregularities surface in varsity’s hospital, housing scheme

Additional deputy commissioner moves commissioner to take suo motu action

HYDERABAD:

While the tug of war between two groups vying for the headship of Isra University continues to draw attention in the recent days, revenue officials have now pointed to irregularities in a housing scheme owned by the varsity's officials.

The Hyderabad additional deputy commissioner (ADC) has recommended suo motu action by the Hyderabad commissioner against the housing scheme, dubbed 'Isra Village', and the university's teaching hospital.

"All the above entries are illegal and therefore require to be taken cognisance of on suo motu side," he wrote in the letter dated December 21, 2020, addressed to the commissioner. The ADC also raised questions over the legal transfer of around 13 acres of land to the scheme and the hospital in the letter.

The ADC pointed out survey numbers 14, 312, 331, 334, 374 and 645, as well as two entry numbers, located in Deh Mirzapur, whose transfer order (TO) forms were not issued. He stated that the commissioner ought to take cognisance of the genuineness of all revenue record entries made in favour of the scheme and the hospital in the above survey numbers under Section 164 of the Sindh Land Revenue Act, 1967.

Entries in the revenue record in connection with the scheme and the hospital were made in different years between 1994 and 2015.

"As per [the] report of Mukhtiarkar, Qasimabad [taluka], this bhada [irrigation land] has been included in the Isra Village," the ADC stated in the letter.

Explaining the ADC's objections to The Express Tribune, a revenue official, who requested anonymity, said, "To put simply, the land [in question] included in the hospital and the scheme hasn't been legally transferred in the ownership of the hospital and the scheme."

He added that in light of the ADC's letter, the Hyderabad commissioner would have to give his judgment on the matter within three months.

However, the builder can challenge that commissioner's decision before the Senior Member Board of Revenue.

"The commissioner can cancel the revenue entries," he said.

According to him, an adverse order of the commissioner will affect the properties registered by the builder to the third parties, the allotees of the plots, in the given survey numbers. "There will be no further mutation until the builder takes the matter to the civil court to settle the matter," he said.

The official said if it was proved in the court of law that the builder had not legally taken the ownership of the land in question, the courts in such cases ordered builders to pay the market price for the land.

The matter came in the knowledge of revenue officials through a petition filed by a resident of Isra Village who took the builder to the court two years ago. During the proceedings, it surfaced that the builder was operating an office inside the university which was later sealed by the authorities.

Isra University, located in the outskirts of Hyderabad near Hatri, is owned by the Isra Islamic Foundation (IIF), a non-profit organisation. It began enrolling students in 1997, and currently operates two campuses in Karachi and Islamabad, besides the main campus in Hyderabad. The housing scheme was established on a huge piece of land bordering the main campus.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2020.