News
FBR Cancels Rs26.47bn Bahria Town Property Auction After Supreme Court Stay
By Mariam Khan
Real Estate Analyst
3 min read
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has cancelled the auction of a 32-kanal, 11-marla property with a constructed house in Bahria Golf City, Rawalpindi. The auction had been scheduled for October 6 as part of proceedings to recover approximately Rs26.47 billion in tax dues from Bahria Town. The cancellation follows a Supreme Court stay issued on September 29, which restrains FBR from recovering the amount or taking enforcement action against the group.
Why the Stay, Not a Settlement, Is the Reason
The auction was called off because of the Supreme Court's order, and not because the dues were paid or the dispute resolved. The stay restrains recovery and enforcement, so the liability itself is neither confirmed nor cancelled by it. The reports we have seen do not say how long the stay will last, when the court will next hear the matter, or what the group's position on the dues is, so the outcome is open.
Why This Reverses the Earlier Announcement
We covered the original notice in FBR's announcement of the Bahria Golf City auction over Rs26.4bn in tax dues, which set October 6 as the date. The cancellation means that auction has not gone ahead. The Rs26.4 billion in that article and the Rs26.47 billion in this one refer to the same recovery effort, and the figures differ only in how they were rounded in the reports. The earlier article also mentioned a Park Road property auctioned for about Rs2.05 billion, and nothing in the latest reports says that sale is affected.
Why Court Orders Can Halt Enforcement on High-Value Assets
The episode shows how a court order can stop tax recovery against high-value real estate even after a date has been fixed and the property publicly notified. Enforcement action by the revenue authorities is open to challenge, and the court can pause it while the underlying questions are decided. That makes the timing of recovery less predictable than an announced auction date suggests.
Why This Sits Alongside Other Bahria Proceedings
The tax recovery is one of several tracks involving the group. Others include proceedings involving NAB, CDA and RDA and CDA's cancellation of a Bahria Town layout. The Supreme Court stay concerns the FBR's recovery and does not, on the reports available, cover those other matters.
What This Means for Buyers, Investors and Residents
Buyers and investors considering Bahria-linked property should keep treating legal and tax status as something to verify independently, and should not read the cancellation as a clearance. For anyone who had been watching the auction as a possible purchase, it will not take place on October 6. The signals to watch are the next Supreme Court hearing, any revised notice from the FBR, and official updates on FBR's website.