One Constitution Avenue spared, Nasla Tower razed: Pakistan's two faces of justice

Pakistan's decision to refund buyers of Islamabad's One Constitution Avenue apartments with profit, while families displaced by Karachi's demolished Nasla Tower remain uncompensated five years later, has raised questions about unequal treatment and accountability.

In the latest episode of his show "On My Radar," Kamran Khan compared the two projects, questioning why the government moved swiftly to protect buyers of an illegal Islamabad development, including prominent political, military and judicial figures, while ordinary families in Karachi have received neither compensation nor a clear resolution.

"The story is not just about two buildings. It is about a state that bows before the powerful and brings bulldozers down on the weak," Khan said.

Nasla Tower, a 15-story building at the intersection of Shahrah-e-Faisal and Shahrah-e-Quaideen in Karachi's Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, had showrooms, parking floors and 44 apartments. Around 39 to 40 middle-class families lived there, while some apartments belonged to overseas Pakistanis.

Khan said buyers had relied on government-issued approvals before purchasing their homes. In 2007, the city government's master plan department approved the conversion of the plot from residential to commercial use. In May 2013, the Karachi Building Control Authority issued a no-objection certificate for the sale and advertisement of apartments and showrooms. The Sindh Building Control Authority issued a structural NOC in June, followed by approval of the complete building plan in July. A plinth verification certificate was issued in February 2014.

"At every step, the government had put its stamp on the documents," Khan said, adding that ordinary buyers had trusted those approvals, taking bank loans or selling jewelry to purchase their homes.

On June 16, 2021, a three-member Supreme Court bench led by then-Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed ordered the demolition of the building, ruling that part of it had been constructed on the service road of Shahrah-e-Faisal.

According to court records, the original plot measured 780 square yards but had expanded to 1,121 square yards over the decades through the housing society and various government approvals. The court ruled that there was no legal entitlement to the additional land and ordered the building demolished. It also directed the developer to refund buyers within three months.

The residents' review petition was rejected. Gas, electricity and water supplies were disconnected in October 2021, forcing families to leave their homes. The demolition was completed within weeks after the court reprimanded the Karachi commissioner over delays and threatened contempt proceedings.

However, the same urgency was not evident in securing compensation. The developer failed to return the money within the court's deadline. In 2024, the Supreme Court ordered the auction of the land to compensate the affected buyers, but no buyer came forward when it was offered at a reserve price of more than 810 million rupees in September 2025. The families remain uncompensated.

In another development, the Federal Constitutional Court overturned the Supreme Court orders in July 2026 that had formed the basis for a wider demolition drive in Karachi, including Nasla Tower. It ruled that extending a case involving one building into citywide demolition orders exceeded judicial authority and that enforcing building regulations was the provincial government's responsibility.

Khan noted that the very order that had destroyed the families' homes was subsequently declared an overreach by a higher court, but their homes could not be restored.

The situation at Islamabad's One Constitution Avenue was markedly different.

On March 9, 2005, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) auctioned 13.5 acres of land beside the Jinnah Convention Center for approximately 4.88 billion rupees. The land was allocated to a consortium led by Bismillah Group's BNP, headed by Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, with the condition that a five-star hotel be built there.

According to government reports, the consortium took possession after paying only 15% of the amount. Federal ministers later said the land was mortgaged to the Bank of Punjab to obtain a loan of approximately 3.5 billion rupees, despite its full price remaining unpaid.

The hotel was never built. Instead, two 22-story towers containing more than 250 luxury apartments were constructed and sold. The CDA said buyers paid the developer 5.4 billion rupees.

The list of apartment owners published in newspapers included former prime minister Imran Khan, former chief justice and caretaker prime minister Nasir-ul-Mulk, Aitzaz Ahsan, Federal Minister Jam Kamal, former naval chief Adm. Asif Sandila, former air chief Mujahid Anwar Khan, former Senate chairman Wasim Sajjad, former State Bank governor Ashraf Wathra, former foreign secretary Salman Bashir, former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ehsan Mani and the son of Defense Minister Khawaja Asif.

The CDA canceled the lease in 2016, and the Islamabad High Court upheld the decision in 2017. However, in January 2019, the Supreme Court, under then-Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, overturned the high court ruling and restored the project, directing the developer to pay 17.5 billion rupees in installments over eight years.

The developer paid only 2.9 billion rupees, about 16% of the amount. A December 2022 installment remained unpaid, and a 1.7 billion-rupee bank guarantee expired without renewal. The CDA canceled the lease again in March 2023. The building has never received a completion certificate, although people continue to live there.

In April 2026, the Islamabad High Court upheld the lease cancellation, ruling that buyers had no ownership rights and would share the developer's fate. However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif halted an eviction operation the following day, formed a committee and agreed in principle to refund buyers. A joint investigation team comprising NAB, FIA, FBR, SECP, IB and ISI was subsequently formed.

The federal Cabinet approved the JIT report on Wednesday. Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the investigation identified Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as the alleged mastermind, accusing him of working with CDA officials. The report also blamed the authority for negligence and alleged involvement, including removing the bank guarantee requirement to facilitate the developer.

The government plans to blacklist the developer from public projects, while NAB will investigate those responsible. The building is to be converted into the five-star hotel originally required under the land deal. Buyers will receive their original investment along with applicable profit or interest, ensuring they suffer no financial loss.

Khan highlighted another contrast: according to government figures, only 69 of the project's 263 apartments are occupied, meaning much of the compensation could go to investors rather than residents.

He questioned why the same protection had not been extended to Nasla Tower's families, who had also relied on government approvals.

"That money does not come from a minister's pocket. It is the money of the same Karachi taxpayer whose home was demolished in Nasla Tower," Khan said.

He argued that the issue was not whether One Constitution Avenue buyers deserved compensation, but why the same principle had not been applied to Karachi's affected families.

Khan warned that the contrasting treatment sent a damaging message to investors: government approvals and NOCs offer no guarantee that a property or investment will remain protected.

"Nasla Tower's site remains vacant today. That empty space is a mirror of our justice system," he said, arguing that ordinary Pakistanis would only be able to buy homes without fear when both groups were treated equally under the law.

The episode also featured comments from Barrister Ali Zafar, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and lawyer for BNP Private Limited, and Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haq, former vice chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics and a One Constitution Avenue resident.