Bahria Town Karachi review: the Supreme Court case, NAB freezes and prices

Bahria Town Karachi has had possession in its older precincts since at least 2018, but its land title is not settled as of October 2026. The Supreme Court accepted Rs460bn for 16,896 acres in 2019, then declared Bahria in default in November 2023 after it had paid about Rs24bn itself. NAB has a case pending and froze more land in May 2026, so a plot or house in an older precinct is the lower-risk buy and a file is not.

What is the Bahria Town Karachi Supreme Court case?

On 4 May 2018 a three-member Supreme Court bench ruled 2-1 that Sindh’s grant of land to the Malir Development Authority (MDA), and the MDA’s exchange of that land with Bahria Town, were illegal and void. Because hundreds of buyers already held plots, the court allowed the Board of Revenue to regrant the land to Bahria on terms set later. It barred Bahria from selling any plot, house or apartment after the judgment and declared any later allotment void.

On 21 March 2019 the court accepted Bahria’s offer of Rs460bn, payable over seven years. It recognised only the Bahria Town site plan covering 16,896 acres in Malir. Every plot buyer was to get a 99-year lease, with land ownership decided once payment was complete.

We couldn’t open the Supreme Court’s website to read the judgments themselves (it blocked our requests in October 2026). The court facts here come from Dawn, Aaj and The Standard reports. We also found no source, either way, on whether any 99-year leases have been issued to buyers.

Did Bahria pay the Rs460bn?

No. On 23 November 2023 the Supreme Court declared Bahria in default, which made the whole balance due at once. Dawn reported Bahria had paid about Rs24bn of the Rs166.25bn due by then, not counting markup.

Reports give bigger “paid” figures, such as Rs60.72bn or about Rs65bn. Those include roughly £190 million remitted from the UK and other money in the Supreme Court account, so we follow Dawn: Bahria itself paid about Rs24bn. We found no report of any payment since the default finding.

The acreage is disputed too. In October 2023 Bahria said Sindh had given it legal possession of only 11,747 acres, while a court-ordered survey found it held 19,931.63 acres in Malir and Jamshoro, about 3,035 acres more than allowed. We use 16,896 acres, the area the court recognised, and treat the other figures as claims.

Is Bahria Town Karachi under NAB action?

Yes. NAB, the National Accountability Bureau, is Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency. In February 2025 it filed a reference (a formal case) in a Karachi accountability court against 33 people, including Malik Riaz, alleging 17,671.87 acres of government land were grabbed in 2013-14 at a loss of over Rs708bn.

NAB has also frozen property, which means the owner can’t sell it or create rights for anyone else over it:

• June 2025: 457 properties linked to people named in the case, more than 400 of them owned by Bahria’s general manager of sales.
• May 2026: Bahria Icon Tower (Clifton) and Bahria Town Tower (Tariq Road), on an accountability court’s instructions.
• May 2026: 1,338 acres NAB says belong to the Sindh government, where Bahria Greens and precincts 33, 34, 38 to 40, 42 and 61 were planned, plus 3,150 acres of Bahria Town 2 and Malik Riaz’s 67-acre Ali Villa at Bahria Hills.

One search summary put the 1,338-acre freeze in May 2025, but The Nation’s article is dated 20 May 2026, so we follow that. We found no report on the reference’s progress in court after May 2026.

Has possession been given?

In the older precincts, yes. Possession means the handover of a developed plot you can build on. In March 2018 it was available across Precincts 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8, and Sports City’s possession was unconfirmed.

Projects outside the 16,896 acres are a different story. Dawn reported in March 2024 that most of Sports City (roughly precincts 34 to 45) and all of Bahria Paradise’s farm houses lie in Jamshoro district, and many investors who had paid in full still had no possession. Those who surrendered their files waited at least two years for refunds of principal only, and some refund cheques bounced.

We found no neutral, current list of which precincts have possession. Estate-agent lists exist, but we haven’t used them.

What do plots in Bahria Town Karachi cost now?

Karachi sells plots in square yards; our charts use marla. Zameen’s index treats a 125 sq yd plot as 5 marla and a 250 sq yd plot as 10 marla, using a 225 sq ft marla. These are average asking prices, not sale prices, and not adjusted for inflation.

A 125 sq yd plot averaged Rs 43.7 lakh in October 2022, fell to Rs 30.02 lakh by October 2024 and Rs 27.52 lakh in February 2026, then recovered to Rs 32.5 lakh in August 2026. That is still 26% below October 2022.

A 250 sq yd plot rose from Rs 57.67 lakh in August 2024 to Rs 62.46 lakh in August 2025 and Rs 66.94 lakh in August 2026, about 16% in two years. For comparison, in March 2018 asking prices for 250 sq yd plots were Rs10m to Rs17m in Precinct 1.

Does Bahria Town Karachi have gas, electricity and water?

On electricity, Bahria Town and K-Electric signed an agreement on 7 March 2015 for uninterrupted power to Bahria Town Karachi. We found no recent neutral source on supply quality or any cuts over unpaid dues.

On gas and water we found no reliable, dated source, so we can’t score them. Ask residents of the exact precinct before you buy.

Who is the developer, Bahria Town?

Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd, founded by Malik Riaz Hussain. It launched the Karachi project in 2014 and lists a 36-hole golf course, a hospital, a theme park and Rafi Cricket Stadium among its amenities.

The record is poor: the settlement default, the NAB reference and the freezes above. In August 2025 Malik Riaz said Bahria’s cash flow was wrecked, it could not pay staff and it might have to shut down activities nationwide. He is a fugitive in the Al-Qadir Trust case, and Bahria did not answer Dawn’s questions in 2024.

How easy is it to resell?

There is an active market: Zameen tracks asking prices every month. But NAB freezes bar any new rights over frozen land, so the owner can’t create rights in a frozen plot for a buyer. Files outside the 16,896 acres also carry refund and possession risk for whoever holds them.

If you sell, see tax on property sales for the withholding tax and capital gains rules.

Where is Bahria Town Karachi?

Off the M-9 Motorway (Super Highway) in Malir district, north-east of Karachi, with parts in Jamshoro district. Phase 1 of the 39 km Malir Expressway, linking south Karachi to the M-9, opened by January 2025.

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