If you are traveling from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, towards Lahore on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road, about five kilometers in, near the Soan River, you will see the land of the Takhtpadi forests on your left. Once, just 20 years ago, this area was covered in dense forests. But today, instead of trees, you will find luxury villas belonging to Bahria Town, a major real estate developer owned by. Malik Riaz, and the Defense Housing Authority (DHA). A housing scheme managed under the administration of the Pakistan Armed Forces. However, according to judicial investigations, the land on which these luxurious buildings stand is not only designated forest land but was allegedly occupied for illegal construction. For years, the Takhtpadi forests have been falling victim to unauthorized development, but they recently made headlines again when Pakistan’s anti-corruption body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), released a statement. NAB accused Malik Riaz and his associates of land grabbing under the banner of Bahria Town in Karachi, Takhtpadi (Rawalpindi), and New Murree. A 2011 investigative report by Judge Mazhar Minhas, now retired, stated that the clearing of the Takhtpadi forest was carried out jointly by Bahria Town and DHA. Both Bahria Town and DHA deny these land grab allegations, but a 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court of Pakistan confirmed that both entities had encroached on government-owned forest and communal lands. DHA has refuted claims of occupying forest land or any illegal land across Pakistan. The military-run organization asserts that it has not encroached upon Takhtpadi’s forests and that DHA’s Sector F is still owned by Bahria Town. In response to complaints of illegal encroachments, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the Forest Department and the Survey of Pakistan to conduct a fresh investigation. Citing their 2018 report, the court noted that satellite images from Google Earth showed that as of April 17, 2005, the Takhtpadi forest was intact. However, by October 9, 2005, trees had been cut down, and construction had begun. So how did a forest spanning over 2,000 acres at the junction of Islamabad and Rawalpindi suddenly transform into housing schemes? And what role did Bahria Town and DHA play in this entire process? To investigate this matter, an independent investigative body reviewed multiple court rulings, inquiry reports, and police cases. It also conducted detailed discussions with petitioners, affected individuals, and relevant authorities. The officials who were approached for access to government records agreed to cooperate only on the condition of anonymity. They stated that they faced "immense pressure" from these housing projects. It is important to note that in 2018, the Supreme Court ordered the relevant authorities to reclaim the occupied land. Following this, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the court in multiple hearings that investigations were ongoing and that action would be taken in accordance with the court’s ruling. However, Punjab’s Chief Conservator of Forests, Abdul Muqeet Khan, says, "This has not happened yet." "Our stance remains the same: oxygen is essential for breathing, so the occupied forest land should either be reclaimed or replaced with an alternative space."
Recently, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) issued a statement declaring Malik Riaz a “judicial fugitive” and warning that investments in Bahria Town’s Dubai project would be considered “money laundering.” Malik Riaz is currently residing in Dubai, and NAB has stated that the Government of Pakistan is engaging with the UAE through legal channels to seek his extradition. According to NAB’s statement, "Malik Riaz and his associates illegally occupied land in Karachi, Takhtpadi (Rawalpindi), and New Murree under the name of Bahria Town. He fraudulently established housing societies on government and private land without permits, deceiving people out of billions of rupees." Attempts were made to obtain a response from Malik Riaz, but he did not reply. However, his staff secretary, Colonel Khalil-ur-Rehman, told an independent news agency that since the case is sub judice, Bahria Town will present its stance before the court. Following NAB’s statement, Malik Riaz responded on the social media platform X, rejecting the accusations of land grabbing in multiple cities. He claimed that NAB’s "baseless press release" was merely a new form of "blackmail." He further stated, "We have always abided by the law in Pakistan and around the world, and we will continue to do so." Malik Riaz also linked NAB’s statement to Pakistan’s political situation, accusing the bureau of attempting to blackmail him. He insisted, "I will neither testify against anyone nor be used against anyone." He further claimed that he had moved abroad due to pressure to "testify." But the case of the Takhtpadi forests tells a different story.
According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, official documents confirm that Bahria Town has occupied 483.99 acres of forest land. Out of this, 163.36 acres were incorporated into Bahria Town’s Phase 8, while 185.17 acres were allocated to 'Bahria Spring North.' Additionally, 5.29 acres were used for Overseas Sector 1, and 110.17 acres of forest land were utilized for three sectors of Garden City. Meanwhile, nearly 300 acres of Takhtpadi forest land have now been developed under DHA. Official records indicate that DHA integrated:
Furthermore, Bahria Town transferred land to DHA, and together, both projects incorporated 754.92 acres of forest land into their housing schemes. Maps from the Forest Department, Revenue Department, and Survey of Pakistan, which verify the boundaries of state-owned forests, reveal that Bahria Town and the Pakistan Armed Forces' housing project, DHA, have not only occupied protected forest land near rivers, dams, and streams but have also carried out extensive construction on these areas. DHA officials told an international news agency that "In fact, according to their agreements with Malik Riaz. it was his responsibility to acquire and provide the land, and this was not done by the military or DHA itself."
The total area of the Takhtpadi forests is 2,210 acres, as confirmed by historical records and maps from the Forest and Revenue Departments dating back to 1886. However, according to the Supreme Court's ruling, during the tenure of former Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, the Rawalpindi district administration conducted a boundary demarcation at his directive, reducing the forest area to 1,741 acres in their maps. This Supreme Court ruling was authored by retired Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan, Justice Maqbool Baqar, and Justice Faisal Arab. On November 13, 2018, former Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa wrote in a judgment that transferring forest land to Bahria Town made for a "fit case" for NAB to file a reference against Pervaiz Elahi. However, Pervaiz Elahi’s spokesperson and media coordinator, Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, told an international news agency that "these allegations were never proven, and he did not engage in any wrongdoing." He further stated, "This has also been our stance in court." To ensure accurate boundary demarcation, the Supreme Court formed a high-level committee comprising the Forest Department, Revenue Department, and Survey of Pakistan, which later declared the initial boundary assessment incorrect. A report submitted to the court by the Forest Department and Survey of Pakistan stated that, according to Google Earth, the entire Takhtpadi forest was intact as of April 17, 2005. However, by October 9, 2005, trees had been cleared, and construction had begun. For these developments, Bahria Town submitted a summary on March 16, 2007, but construction had already been completed by July 9, 2007. When the files of Bahria Town's projects in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region reached the Supreme Court, it was revealed that hundreds of acres of government-owned forest land had been used for commercial plazas and other constructions. Further investigations by the court exposed that government officials had manipulated official records to benefit Bahria Town. This led the judges to quote the poet Saghar Siddiqui in their 2018 verdict:
According to the Supreme Court ruling, complaints about these violations were reported to NAB and other authorities, yet no action was taken. The court explicitly ordered the retrieval of forest land from Bahria Town, including the areas merged into Bahria Golf City. When the court-ordered demarcation of forest land was carried out, Bahria Town made a settlement with the Forest Department, agreeing to exchange its own land in return for the occupied forest land. However, the verdict noted that Bahria Town’s lawyers aggressively argued in court that the matter had been settled and no further action was needed. The Supreme Court responded critically, stating: "The Forest Department appeared more loyal than the king himself, protecting Bahria Town’s interests even more effectively than Bahria Town itself." The Supreme Court further noted in its ruling: "We fail to understand how millions of trees and shrubs were cleared without raising alarms at any level. Officials remained silent, and through mutual collusion, Bahria Town was given free rein to exploit state resources without any restriction." In its verdict on Bahria Town, the Supreme Court stated: "Despite all this, the Forest Department officials showed no concern. In this age of technology, where even an inch of land cannot go unnoticed, hundreds of acres were unlawfully occupied, and yet no one objected." Following the Supreme Court's order, NAB (National Accountability Bureau) issued a press release in May 2018, stating that under the instructions of (now former) Chairman Justice (Retd.) Javed Iqbal, a formal investigation had been launched against Bahria Town’s projects. According to the press release: "The NAB Chairman has directed the relevant Director Generals to ensure that, in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict, the investigation into Bahria Town reaches its logical conclusion within three months in accordance with the law." Despite the Supreme Court’s rulings, NAB had announced action against Bahria Town, but to this day, its stance remains that the ‘investigation is ongoing’. Meanwhile, Punjab’s Chief Conservator of Forests, Abdul Muqeet Khan, still waits for a final resolution that would restore the occupied forest land. But the key question remains: How did this happen in the first place?
To investigate the allegations of forced land acquisitions by Bahria Town, the Supreme Court ordered an inquiry in 2010, led by Islamabad's session judge, Mazhar Minhas. During this inquiry, Malik Riaz also appeared before the court. Retired judge Mazhar Minhas, who is now retired, told an international media outlet that when he issued a notice for the investigation, both Malik Riaz of Bahria Town and the DHA administration became part of the inquiry. According to him, "On the first day, as the interrogation of Malik Riaz was ongoing, he suddenly felt unwell and claimed that his blood sugar level had dropped, requesting a break in the questioning session." Mazhar Minhas stated that this interrogation session lasted for approximately two and a half hours. He further added, "The next day, an unfortunate shooting incident took place between two rival groups at the F-8 Kacheri in Islamabad. Following this, Malik Riaz sent a message through his employee, retired Colonel Khalil ur Rehman, stating that if the court provided him security, he would appear; otherwise, he would not." The former judge recalled, "I assured security within the court premises but clarified that ensuring security en route was not the court’s responsibility. In response, Colonel Khalil said that under such circumstances, Malik Riaz could not appear." Mazhar Minhas stated that later, Malik Riaz did appear and recorded his complete statement. According to the former judge, when he summoned the DHA administration, their initial response was, "We have no involvement in these matters." However, they eventually sent a representative, whose statement was recorded before submitting the inquiry report to the court. The judicial inquiry report held not only Malik Riaz but also DHA and government machinery equally responsible for aiding and abetting land encroachments in Takht Pari, a Rawalpindi forest that has been at the center of controversy. DHA officials stated that they had already presented their stance before the court, clarifying how Malik Riaz had also "deceived" them in the process of acquiring disputed land. According to these officials, they have challenged this report in court. However, they confirmed conducting an internal institutional investigation, during which multiple questions and objections were raised against Malik Riaz. Despite this, he refused to participate in the inquiry process. The judicial inquiry report revealed that Bahria Town forcefully took possession of 1,200 kanals of land from the Takht Pari forests and incorporated it into its real estate developments. According to the inquiry report, when a forest department officer reported this encroachment to the Rawalpindi district police officer on September 20, 2005, instead of taking action against Bahria Town, the officer was taken to the police station and harassed. A complainant, retired Colonel Abdul Qadir, appeared before Judge Mazhar Hussain Minhas as an eyewitness to these events. The report further stated that a retired commando was actively involved in the forced evictions, and any landowner unwilling to sell their property was subjected to criminal cases filed through the police. According to the report, Bahria Town, in collaboration with DHA, purchased land at low prices against the owners’ wishes. Judge Minhas even listed the names of officials in his report who facilitated Bahria Town and DHA in this controversial land acquisition. By 2010, at least 13 petitions had been filed against DHA before the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench. In the Supreme Court, petitioner Dr. Shafiq ur Rehman told an international media outlet that when Malik Riaz encroached upon his land near Takht Pari, he took legal action. However, in 2008, Malik Riaz had him falsely implicated in various criminal cases, including murder, through the police. He stated that his voice eventually reached the Supreme Court, where he presented all relevant evidence regarding forest land encroachments. According to Dr. Shafiq ur Rehman, the Supreme Court’s intervention resulted in the dismissal of false cases against him, ensuring that justice was finally served in the Takht Pari forest occupation case.
DHA officials, when contacted by an international media outlet, stated that DHA had not encroached on any land and dismissed all allegations as baseless. They clarified that DHA only purchases land and makes payments, whereas Malik Riaz was responsible for acquiring land. According to them, DHA has not occupied any forest land, and even Sector F is owned by Bahria Town. In response to a question, the officials acknowledged that while DHA manages plot transfers and ownership matters in Sector F, the security and administrative affairs of this sector remain under Bahria Town's control. These officials further stated that Malik Riaz had failed to fulfill the agreements made with DHA. It is worth noting that this case has been under trial in the Supreme Court for over a decade. Additionally, DHA Islamabad's operations are directly monitored by GHQ, and a serving Brigadier is appointed as DHA's administrator, as explicitly mentioned in the DHA Act 2013.
Malik Riaz's association with Pakistan's defense institutions began in 1995 through the Bahria Foundation, a charitable organization of the Pakistan Navy. Under an agreement, a new company named Bahria Town was established to develop a residential scheme for the families of martyrs. Before this, Malik Riaz owned Hussain Global Associates Private Limited. According to Bahria Town's documents, Malik Riaz failed to meet the conditions of the agreement with the Pakistan Navy regarding residential projects in Islamabad and Lahore. Within four years, by 1999, he defaulted on his commitments. Subsequently, the Pakistan Navy attempted to reclaim its brand name, but to this day, it has not succeeded. Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Asif stated in a press conference that he had raised this issue with the then Naval Chief but did not receive a satisfactory response. In the same press conference, Khawaja Asif also said, "There should be a nationwide investigation into Malik Riaz's assets. The government will take action against him and bring him back from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."
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