Satti Killay small dam: PHC stays issuance of tender, seeks reply

Relevant dept excluded petitioner from process as he did not meet criteria

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court put a stay on Monday on tender for the construction of Satti Killay small dam in Bannu district.

The tender was expected to be issued on Tuesday (today), but a petition was filed on Monday, alleging the awarding process was unfair.

The bench also issued notices to the small dams director general, north chief engineer and irrigation department secretary. It ordered the officials to file their replies by the next hearing.

The stay order was issued by a division bench of justices Waqar Ahmad Seth and Syed Afsar Shah. It was hearing a writ petition filed by contractor Sher Ali through his counsel Riaz Mardan.

The petitioner’s counsel said pre-qualification applications were sought for construction of the dam and his client had also applied.

He argued the relevant department excluded him from the process with the excuse that his firm was not registered with the irrigation department.

He said the petitioner was a PK-III licence holder and eligible to get a construction project worth Rs1,000 million, while the actual value of the small dam construction project was Rs690 million.



He requested the bench to order the authority to include the petitioner in the tender awarding process. The bench stayed the tender awarding process and sought replies from the respondents.

Salaries paid

The same bench adjourned the hearing of a contempt of court notice filed by social organisers of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) after it was informed that their salaries have been paid.

When the hearing commenced, MNCH provincial coordinator Dr Sahib Gul appeared before the bench and produced salary cheques. He said each social organiser would be paid Rs2.4 million, adding the remaining amount would be paid soon.

The 23 social organisers, including Muhammad Irfan and Jamal Ahmad, filed a contempt of court petition through their counsel Sahibzada Asadullah.

The officials said they were recruited in the MNCH programme as social organisers in 2009, but terminated from their services in 2011.

The petition said that they took to PHC against the termination and were subsequently restored.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2016.