DCC officials said the parking area situated on the eastern side of the Karwan Bazar kitchen market could not be recovered due to legal complications.

Meanwhile, the entire Karwan Bazar area with hundreds of big businesses, offices and the largest wholesale vegetable market is constantly choked with haphazardly parked vehicles. During peak hours wrongly parked vehicles occupy more than 50 percent of the main roads.

Rajuk officials said the area was earmarked for parking facilities when Karwan Bazar commercial zone was planned.

Just after the parking space was leased to the shop owners, newspaper reports prompted the then Prime Minister's Office to ask the DCC to cancel the lease, the DCC officials said.

The PMO's directive was a 'thorn in the flesh' for DCC officials in the estate department and high-ups, who took hefty sums from the shop owners, sources said.

As soon as the DCC issued a cancellation order, the shop owners went to court and obtained a stay order without DCC's Legal Wing appealing against it. The case is still pending.

"Shop owners have now hung a signboard about the court order and the DCC officials are happy to keep quiet about it," said a source at the DCC zonal office.

"We cannot do anything until the legal complications are over," said a DCC official in Nagar Bhaban.