SHC stays bidding to rent out DHA cricket ground

Cricket academy claims they had an agreement to develop grounds for 10 years.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has restrained the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) from finalising the bidding process to rent out a cricket ground in Phase-IV to private contractors till May 8.

A single bench also issued a notice to the DHA administrator to file comments by the next date of hearing. The Customs Cricket Academy had gone to court against the DHA management for allegedly breaching the agreement executed between the two to develop the cricket ground.

According to the plaintiff academy, the DHA had published a public notice in 2009 to express its willingness to rent out its various properties including the cricket ground near DA Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zaid College in Phase IV. The authority had invited bids from the interested groups.

The plaintiff also participated in the bidding and sent its proposal, which was accepted by the DHA with slight modifications. In its proposal, the plaintiff had proposed that the cricket ground can be rented out for a minimum period of 10 years, as renting it for a period of less than 10 years was not feasible for anyone to invest a huge amount in developing the grounds as per international standards with all the facilities and requisite equipments.

During a meeting, it was decided that the agreement will initially be executed for a period of five years but the plaintiff will be entitled to have it renewed for another five years once the first tenure ends.

The plaintiff said that they agreed that the initial monthly licence fee of
Rs108,333 per month will be paid every quarter with a 10% annual enhancement. The condition was that once a week, the plaintiff will allow the schools and colleges of DHA to use the grounds. Apart from the monthly rent, the plaintiff will give a 50% discount to DHA employees on all the tickets and bookings at the grounds.

The lawyer said that while waiting for the agreement, the plaintiff has spent an approximate sum of Rs6.5 million to develop the cricket ground and buy coaching tools and equipment, such as evening net lights, a new office, a canteen and others.

The plaintiff claimed that the DHA violated the agreement by publishing a public notice in the newspapers on April 13 and inviting bids from the interested parties to get the cricket ground rented out. The plaintiff's lawyer argued that such a process of calling fresh bids is a violation of the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2014.