Environmental grounds: PHC grants status quo against procurement of furniture for E&SED

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday granted status quo against procurement of furniture for elementary and secondary schools and directed Directorate of Elementary& Secondary Education (E&SE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit comments.

The two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Naeem Anwar directed authorities to stop procurement process till further hearing. The writ petition was filed by social workers including Hayat Shah, Ghufran Ali and Niaz Muhammad Khan against Directorate of E&SE, EPA and government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Barrister Ibrahim Khan Afridi is advocate in the case.

Barrister Ibrahim Khan said that E&SE Department had issued an advertisement for the procurement of furniture for schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 19, demanding furniture made from Shisham tree, which is environment-friendly but also endangered species.

The writ petition stated that E&SE was procuring furniture including chairs and tables for teachers of schools across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It added that on the one hand, the government had initiated afforestation while on the other E&SE being a government department was demanding furniture of endangered specie Shisham, which is known as Indian rosewood and scientific name as Dalbergia Sissoo and has potential to fight hazardous impacts of climate change. The petition stated that EPA was established under an Act to ensure protection of environment and conduct studies for the purpose.