Tussle for control: PHC restrains Centre from acting on adverts looking to lease PTDC properties

Directs secretaries of inter-provincial coordination and cabinet divisions to file comments

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court has restrained the federal government from proceeding any further on advertisements looking to lease out properties of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC). The bench of Justice Nisar Hussain Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali sought comments from relevant officials and directed the secretaries of the inter-provincial coordination (IPC) and cabinet divisions to file separate comments in the case.

Farmanullah Khattak, counsel for the managing director (MD) of Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP), told the court the PTDC MD and project engineer had placed an advertisement in two newspapers on July 18, inviting bids to lease out properties for another 30 years—properties meant to be soon returned to the province.

Khattak said three properties owned by the K-P government, including motels at Kalam, Miandam and Naran, had been leased out to the PTDC for 30 years. However, the lease would expire in 2017 and the provincial government is supposed to take possession of the properties once again.

After hearing initial arguments, the PHC restrained the federal government from taking any further action on the advertisements till further orders.

The petition stated that after the 18th Amendment to Article 270-AA of the Constitution, some ministries were devolved to the provinces on July 1, 2011, including environment, food and agriculture, health, labour and manpower, ministries, sports and women development, livestock and dairy development, social welfare as well as special education and tourism.

The petition pointed out the K-P government, during the 76th board meeting of the PTDC, said it was ready to accept all the assets and liabilities of the properties, including the employees’ liabilities. The provincial government reiterated the point in subsequent meetings.

Despite the 18th Amendment and clear decisions taken by the PTDC board of directors in the IPC division, the process of handing over the motels to TCKP was yet to be completed and the respondents were simply using delaying tactics, added the petition.

“The notification on August 7 bringing PTDC under the administrative control of the cabinet division is clearly contrary to sub-articles 8 and 9 of Article 270-AA of the Constitution. Hence, the petition is filed for implementation of constitutional provision” it read.

PTDC is a statutory corporation registered under the Companies Ordinance 1984.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2014.