Najam Sethi Occupying Prime Government Property, Took Advantage of Billions Over 24 Years Span

• The Lok Virsa has sent a legal notice to Najam Sethi to evict a property in Islamabad.
• Sethi is renting the property for over two lacs, which has a potential revenue of 25 lacs.

Lok Virsa, an organization under the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture, has sent an eviction notice to the Senior Journalist, Najam Sethi, as the agreement between them expired earlier this year.

According to the notice which has gone viral on Twitter, it says Sethi is illegally occupying a building in F6, the agreement of which expired on the 28th of February 2020. Najam Sethi has been paying 2 Lac 32 thousand rent for the property, although the Market rent calculated is 2.5 million.

The Lok Virsa is a museum administered and managed by the National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage. It is located on the Shakarparian Hills, Islamabad showcasing Pakistan’s cultures.

Sources have revealed that Lok Virsa has decided to retrieve its properties in the illegal possession of influential people. It includes shops in the Lok Virsa and the property occupied in the expensive Super Market area of Islamabad for the last 24 years by Najam Aziz Sethi under the garb of Vanguard Books.

In a classic misuse of power case, Sethi has occupied the property for a little over two lacs, which has a potential revenue of 25 lacs.

Background

The story began in 1996 when Mr. Sethi was influential enough to be in the caretaker cabinet of Malik Meraj Khalid – the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. During that year, the journalist took on lease the valuable property in the Super Market, Islamabad, for little over 50000 and established a bookshop known as Vanguard Books.

In 2001, Najam Sethi acquired the lease extended again to 2006.

In 2006, the government for the vacation of the property sent a notice. However, after negotiations, the lease was again extended to 2009.

In 2009, the heritage organization again sent a notice of vacation to Mr. Sethi, but it was not followed up by any practical action. The PML-N government signed the last deal for a period of three years until Feb 2020.

The PTI government made another attempt in 2019 to vacate the premises because Lok Virsa required this valuable property to establish a cultural center.

When Najam Sethi refused to vacate even though his legal agreement had expired, Lok Virsa sought relief through the rent controller. This petition became unnecessary, as the rent restriction act does not apply to the government buildings. Hence, Lok Virsa has given another notice to the journalist to vacate the premises.

This entire episode is a classic example of misuse of power by an influential journalist. The advantage gained is in billions of Rupees over 24 years of occupation of prime government property.

Thread on how Sr. Journalist Najam Sethi misused power. The advantage gained has been in billions of Rupees over a 24 years of occupation of a prime Government property. pic.twitter.com/Z4HdQwp936

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 7, 2020

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