Preemptive strike: KPT summoned to court over tender rejection

Petitioner says KPT cancelled his bids for licences for restaurants in Boat Basin despite being the highest bidder.

KARACHI: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) summoned Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Deputy Attorney General (DAG) to court on January 28. The court was hearing a petition filed by Muhammad Tariq, who was declared the highest bidder and then told his bid was cancelled twice in a row.

The petitioner also cited Port and Shipping Secretary and KPT Estate Manager as respondents.

Tariq said that in November 2008, KPT had issued three-year tenders for a licence to run two restaurants in the parking area of Boat Basin. The petitioner was declared the highest bidder but later his bid was cancelled. Tariq applied again in September 2009 and this time too, he was the highest bidder. But a few months later, it was déjà vu and he was told that his bid had “not been approved by the authorities concerned”.

The petitioner said that KPT has invited tenders for the third time and this time he wants to take preemptive action. Challenging the disapproval by the KPT, he asked the court to declare the KPT Board of Trustees and Estate Manager’s acts (of rejecting his bid) as illegal, restrain them from a new tender process and to direct the respondents to approve his bid, issue him the licence and permit him to open the restaurants.

The bench, comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Zakir Hussain, after hearing initial arguments by the petitioner’s counsel, ordered issuance of pre-admission notices to the respondents for January 28.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th,  2011.