Notice issued in underpass construction case

The Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued notices to Punjab government and its several departments on a petition challenging construction of Firdaus Market underpass in Gulberg.

Advocate Nabeel Javed, on behalf of a petition, argued before the court that the land for the project had been acquired without hearing objections of the affectees. He alleged that the government forcibly acquired the land from the owners against their will and also failed to make payments to them so far. The counsel asked the court to stay the project and order the government to meet the reservations of the petitioners and locals of the area. Justice Shakilur Rehman Khan heard the arguments and sought replies from the respondents within one week. Hearing another similar petition, Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan permitted counsel of a company, Gateway Technologies, to make amendments in the petition. Earlier, the counsel questioned the land acquisition process for the underpass saying the affectees were not given a mandatory opportunity of personal hearing before the start of the project. He also questioned the contract of the project awarded to Maqbool Kolsan, which, he claimed, had been declared blacklisted in projects of Orange Line Metro Train Lahore and BRT Peshawar.

Chief Justice Khan observed that it was nowhere mentioned in the petition that the land for the project had been acquired illegally. He said it seemed that the petitioner/company wanted to settle some personal grudge against the government. The counsel sought permission to make some amendments in the petition, which was allowed by the court.

bail plea: A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court today (Wednesday) would take up a petition of PML-N MNA Barjis Tahir seeking pre-arrest bail in assets beyond means inquiry by National Accountability Bureau. The petitioner said that NAB had closed the same inquiry in 2003 and now he has been summoned in a closed case. However, he said the bureau once again issued him a call-up notice in 2019 to appear in the same inquiry. He had been elected MNA six times but did not commit corruption even of a single penny, he said adding that he was a staunch supporter of accountability.