The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday restrained the Capital Development Authority (CDA) from taking coercive action against the buyers of One Constitution Avenue, a luxury complex involving an apartment once owned by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

A division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Azam Khan and Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas issued the stay order during the hearing of intra-court appeals filed by the residents.

The decision follows a previous single-bench verdict that upheld the CDA’s cancellation of the project’s lease, ruling that third-party buyers would “sink or sail” with the defaulting builder, M/s BNP (Private) Limited. The single-bench ruling led to CDA officials serving eviction notices at the property.

The property dispute began in 2005 when the CDA leased the land to BNP for a five-star hotel, which was subsequently converted into a residential and commercial complex.

CDA terminated the lease in 2016. While the Supreme Court restored the lease in 2019 under the condition that BNP pay Rs17.5 billion in installments backed by bank guarantees, CDA cancelled it again following a default by the builder.

No completion certificate has been issued for the project.

Court records indicate that the luxury flat previously owned by former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was sold directly to a buyer named Shahid Naseer through BNP’s Farooq Ahmed Sheikh.

Naseer signed a booking agreement in July 2022 for the two-bedroom unit on the 11th floor of Tower C for Rs93.575 million. According to the agreement, Naseer transferred Rs45.5 million, representing nearly 48 percent of the total price. The 1,970-square-foot apartment was scheduled for possession by August 31, 2022, with a maximum extension to February 28, 2023.

Under Clause 4 of the agreement, the risk of loss or damage passes to the buyer on the completion date “irrespective of whether he has physically taken possession”.

Clause 13 permits BNP to forfeit up to 25 percent of the consideration if the buyer defaults. If the sub-lessor defaults, Clause 12 limits the buyer’s remedy to terminating the agreement after December 31, 2023, to receive a refund minus a six percent annual surcharge.

The project contains 240 flats allotted to political, judicial, and military figures, including a former president, a former Senate chairman, a former prime minister, a former chief of air staff, a former naval chief, two former chief justices of Pakistan, a former chief justice of the Lahore High Court, and a former defence minister.

The court record also contains a 2012 interim arbitration award issued by current Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif and a former chamber president to resolve disputes between the project’s primary partners.