Interim orders: PHC stays bidding process for school building

Petitioner’s lawyer told the court the school building was given to Arya Samaj in 1861

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar High Court issued a stay order against the bidding process for a building of Government High School No2 in Nowshera as the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) claimed jurisdiction of the property.

The interim verdict was issued by the court on Wednesday on the petition submitted by ETPB’s deputy administrator against the Cantonment board in Nowshera. Cantonment had issued a notice to start the bidding process for the building.

Petitioner’s lawyer Shakil Khan Gillani told the court the school building was given to Arya Samaj, an Indian religious reform sect in 1861. Later on a school was set up in the building. However, after the 2010 floods, the building was declared dangerous for inhabitation.

Gillani told the court that on February 19, the Cantonment board published an advertisement inviting bidders. He argued it had no right to auction the building as all such properties come under the jurisdiction of ETPB.

After hearing the arguments, the court stopped the bidding process and directed the Cantonment CEO, education secretary and defence secretary to submit their reply in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2016.