ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (Focus Pakistan) - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi says the government will turn One Constitution Avenue into a five-star hotel within months. A developer promised exactly that on the same Red Zone plot 21 years ago, then filled it with luxury apartments instead.
There was more. The cabinet has signed off on a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report into alleged corruption and irregularities at the tower, Naqvi told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday and the public will get to read it.
He offered buyers a lifeline too. The government will compensate those who invested in the project and refund what they paid, Naqvi said.
That promise lands awkwardly against the courts. Earlier this year, the Islamabad High Court ruled that apartment buyers acquired no independent ownership rights and must pursue their claims against the developer. Naqvi did not say who would fund the refunds or how much they would cost.
Two Decades, No Hotel
Back in 2005, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) put the 13.5-acre plot up for auction. BNP (Pvt) Ltd took it for roughly Rs4.8 billion, on the promise of a five-star hotel with serviced apartments attached. The original timeline had the hotel open by 2009.
The developer built residential and commercial towers instead. The CDA cancelled the lease in 2016, and the high court backed it.
In January 2019, the Supreme Court revived the deal. It ordered BNP to pay Rs17.5 billion in eight annual instalments. The company paid a first instalment of Rs1.7 billion, then missed the Rs2.916 billion due in 2022.
The CDA cancelled the lease again in March 2023. This spring, the high court upheld that decision.
From Midnight Evictions to a JIT
Police then moved into the building and told residents to leave. Families began carrying out their belongings. Within hours, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif halted the operation and set up a review committee under Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
He later ordered a JIT led by a National Accountability Bureau officer, with members from the Intelligence Bureau and the ISI, and gave it 60 days.
In May, Naqvi called the project the “biggest scam in Pakistan’s history” and linked it to politicians, bureaucrats, judges and bankers. On Wednesday, he said the government had faced pressure from different quarters over the case. He declined to name anyone.
A Building Still Occupied
Naqvi said occupants still hold the building, as they have in the past. The government will recover any illegally occupied state land and show no favour to anyone, he said. The CDA’s Member Administration will now take charge of the building.
The law must apply equally to rich and poor, Naqvi added, with no separate standard for wealth or influence. The goal, he said, goes beyond action to a logical conclusion: state land back in state hands, and investors spared losses.
Several questions remain open. Naqvi gave no date for the JIT report’s release, named no hotel operator and offered no cost for converting apartment towers into a hotel. Twenty sub-lessees have also challenged the high court ruling through intra-court appeals.
1,000 Acres Behind PM House
Naqvi also announced a second land win. Authorities have recovered about 1,000 acres behind the Prime Minister’s House from illegal occupants, he said, and the government plans a safari park there.
Work on four Islamabad sectors remains a priority, he added. On the Islamabad Club, Naqvi said its management had asked the authorities for more time.
Islamabad has waited since 2005 for a hotel on that plot, through two lease cancellations, a Supreme Court rescue and a police operation. Naqvi now gives it months.
