Rawalpindi Cantonment Board building and plaques showing the names of the founders. PHOTOS: AGHA MEHROZE/EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB), which carried out a massive campaign to increase its revenue and recover dues, suffered a loss of Rs41.1 million in marketing costs.
The owners of a property allegedly used for illegal commercial purposes deposited only Rs 2,790,595 instead of the required Rs 43,891,512 as marketing fees and obtained a stay order from a court through other co-owners.
According to sources, the property located on Peshawar Road covers 50.64 marlas of land and houses a large private educational institution. The cantonment board issued a notice to the owner regarding illegal commercial use and ordered him to deposit Rs 43,891,512 as marketing charges.
However, instead of completing the marketing of the entire property, some cantonment board officials allegedly collected only Rs 2,790,594 as marketing fee for 24 marlas of land.
The move allowed the owners to approach the court regarding the remaining marketing costs of around Rs41.1 million. They subsequently obtained a stay order against the recovery of the remaining amount, depriving the cantonment board of immediate receipt of a large sum.
According to some sources, the matter appears to have been settled through collusion, as the marketing of a property with a unique CB number is normally done once for the entire land area and built structure, regardless of the number of owners.
In this case, although the entire marketing charges were assessed and notice was issued accordingly, only the amount of 24 marlas was collected. The remaining portion of the property of 50.40 marla was not marketed, allowing the owners to seek relief from the court.
When contacted, a senior official of the cantonment board confirmed that the entire marketing costs could not be recovered. He added that the matter regarding the remaining recoverable costs is now pending before the court and further recovery will depend on the court’s decision.
