One Constitution Avenue in Islamabad is linked with elite corruption involving manipulation of legal frameworks for private gain, causing losses to the public exchequer and eroding trust in justice. Its history includes legal maneuvering, financial default, judicial irregularities, and political complicity, transforming a legitimate national initiative into large-scale appropriation of valuable state land. The project began before the 2005 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit when Islamabad lacked a five-star hotel, prompting the Capital Development Authority to lease two prime sites, including a 13.5-acre plot on Constitution Avenue in the Red Zone near key state institutions, intended for a luxury hotel. During bidding, experienced hotelier Sadruddin Hashwani withdrew after finding the terms financially unviable, leaving the project to Hafeez Pasha, a Faisalabad-based textile mill owner with no hospitality experience, whose consortium outbid others despite the high cost.

After winning the bid, a company called BNP Private Limited, not part of the original consortium, paid only about 15 percent of the Rs. 4.88 billion lease and took control of the land. Following the appointment of an associate of Pasha as Director Legal at the CDA, the lease terms were altered to allow residential apartments instead of a hotel, converting the project into a highly profitable real estate venture. When Hashwani challenged this change in court, the CDA issued a notice, but Pasha falsely claimed he was building a hotel while continuing apartment construction. He then secured a zero-interest loan worth billions from the Bank of Punjab and began selling 263 luxury apartments at extremely high prices, generating over Rs. 200 billion. Despite this, he refused to pay the remaining 85 percent of the land cost to the CDA and defaulted on the bank loan, claiming financial losses, effectively retaining massive profits from the project while evading all major financial obligations.

For years, a strange paralysis gripped the relevant authorities. Despite clear violations, the CDA slowed its activity, seemingly content to let the project rise. The political noise around the case intensified significantly during the last tenure of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with the case gaining some momentum in the courts. However, as is the pattern in Pakistan, a change of government disrupted the legal trajectory. It is at this critical juncture that the narrative descends from white-collar crime into a surreal tale of judicial rationalization. At some point during the project’s development, Hafeez Pasha, seeking to secure powerful patrons, gifted free flats to a select group of very big people. Among the names that have surfaced in this scandal are Justice Gulzar Ahmed (later Chief Justice), and, most explosively, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The allegation is specific: that these high-profile figures received luxury apartments in One Constitution Avenue for free, or on terms so preferential they amounted to gifts, in exchange for legal or political cover.

The payoff, according to the chronicle of corruption, came swiftly and dramatically. Just when the case seemed to be heading towards a definitive resolution against the developer, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, who was himself reportedly a beneficiary of a free flat, sat in the Supreme Court to deliver a verdict that would stun legal experts and the nation. In a moment of bizarre, almost mystical legal reasoning, Justice Nisar reportedly prefaced his decision by stating that he had had a dream at night. He declared that in the light of this divine vision, he had decided that while it was true that the land belonged to the government, it was true that it had been captured, and it was true that the construction was illegal, he was nonetheless going to legalize the entire project. He reasoned that since the flats had already been built and people (including, conveniently, himself and other powerful figures) had taken possession, it would be unjust to demolish them. Therefore, he ruled, the land’s price would be fixed at the rate from fifteen years ago, despite the immense appreciation of property values in the interim. Furthermore, he ordered that Hafeez Pasha, who had collected 200 billion rupees from flat sales, would be allowed to pay this ancient, undervalued price—approximately 17 billion rupees—in easy installments over a period of eight years. The developer had evaded paying his original dues, collected hundreds of billions, and was now being rewarded with a discounted price and a payment plan that resembled a charity trust. And the final, predictable twist in this judicial farce is that even this laughably lenient 17 billion rupee settlement has not been honored; Hafeez Pasha has reportedly defaulted on the installments as well, yet the flats remain standing.

This matrix of corruption was held together by a strong relationship of mutual benefit. Many famous personalities—including Imran Khan, Aitzaz Ahsan, Shandana Gulzar, Nasirul Mulk, and Kashmala Tariq etc—have been named as owners or residents of these flats. This created a powerful constituency of influential stakeholders who had a vested interest in the project’s survival. The apathy of Imran Khan’s government is particularly glaring. When the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came to power on a slogan of constructing a ‘Naya Pakistan’ based on rule of law and accountability, it was presented with the perfect test case. Instead of moving against this symbol of elite capture, the government apparently closed its eyes to the illegality, having allegedly secured a few flats for its leader and other key figures.

The fundamental facts of the case are damningly simple. This plot on Constitution Avenue was not part of the original master plan of Islamabad designed by Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis. It was added later, and even then, its usage was strictly and explicitly approved only for five-star hotels. The original advertisements published by the CDA in 2004 clearly described the project solely as a hotel; there was no mention of residential apartments or commercial sale anywhere in the original documentation. The lease was awarded at Rs. 75,000 per square yard, a price that paled in comparison to the Rs. 190,000 per square yard commercial rates of the Centaurus plot, precisely because the use was restricted to the less profitable hotel business. By illegally converting the use to residential, the developer captured a massive windfall profit at the direct expense of the state.

In April 2026, after years of dithering, the Islamabad High Court finally upheld the CDA’s decision to cancel the lease due to the massive payment defaults. Eviction notices were issued. One Constitution Avenue stands as a challenge to the nation, a demand that the people rise to put iron hands on such corrupt mafias and ensure the compliance of law and regulation for all, without any discrimination, for once and for all.