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Thursday March 28, 2024

Varan tours says their premises taken by force

By Our Correspondent
April 20, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Chairperson of Waran Tours Uzma Gul, also daughter of former ISI chief Gen (retd) Hameed Gul, stated that the encroachment on Waran Tours’ building by local police and employees of the cantonment board was sheer violation of rights to privacy and protection.

While addressing a presser at National Press Club, Islamabad, Uzma Gul demanded the apex court to take sua sponte or suo motu action against the alleged occupants of the building. She informed the media persons that ASP Cantt, and SHO Cantt along with heavy contingency of police and the employees of cantonment board broke the entrance and forcefully entered into the building.

The chairperson said the occupants also manhandled the employees were present in the office and when she asked them the reason for breaking the main gate of the building, ADCR made himself introduced and said they were the government employees. She said the ADCR further informed that the government wanted to make the building a quarantine centre for coronavirus patients and suspects.

Uzma Gul said when she demanded for documentation or any notice regarding turning the building into quarantine, the ADCR improperly responded that his visit was enough and no written documents needed after his visit. She said she had stay on an ongoing case, while she claimed that her assets were also freezed in 2014 verdict.

Uzma said that the High Court heard the case five to six times in a year since 2014, while the government always took time and asked for new dates. She said she even requested the Chief Justice to transfer the case to Lahore, adding that for the past fifteen years she was trying to get justice.

Meanwhile, the District Administration Rawalpindi, in a press release stated that it has retrieved encroached state land of 17 Kanals on Adamjee Road from illegal occupation of Varan tours old GTS bus stand.

As per details shared by District Administration spokesperson, M/s Varan tours were conferred upon exclusive right of running an efficient urban transport in Rawalpindi through insertion of section 69-A (in 1999) in MV ordinance. Subsequently, an agreement was signed on 23 February 2000 by virtue of which 17 Kanal of land at Sadar and 28 Kanal at Chur Harpal were allotted to Varan only with the purpose to operate said bus service.

“Later on, M/s Varan terminated the referred agreement unilaterally on 21 February 2005 in violation of terms of agreement, hence surrendering the right to retain the land simultaneously. The M/s Varan services owe a lot of payables at the agreement rate of rent RS 57,000 per Kanal per annum since 2001. However, not a single penny was paid. Since 2006, Varan administration had been served with various show-cause notices by District Administration and the transport department to pay the arrears and vacate hitherto illegally possessed state land of transport department Punjab government.

“Finally, one of the sites were retrieved by adopting legal procedures of eviction back in 2018, whereas Sadar site has been now taken over from illegal occupants with the intention to turn it into field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients and quarantine as there was no vacant place available in city and cantonment areas. Before this, the administration has converted sports complex into filed hospital but it would not be enough in case more patients landed in the city with COVID-19,” concluded the press release.