SHC stays renewed bus stand rental auction

Petitioner says he had acquired rights to run bus stand, but MLC DG issued ad inviting fresh bids

HYDERABAD:

The Sindh High Court has stayed the renewed rental auction of a piece of land by Cantonment Board of Hyderabad (CBH) for a transport stand at Qasim Chowk in the city.

The Hyderabad Circuit Bench on Tuesday put the respondents on notice for May 6 including the federal government, Director General Military Lands and Cantonment (DG MLC), CBH and the board's Chief Executive Officer.

The stand in question is located at one of the central locations in the city, surrounded by shopping centres and in close proximity to a banquet, with ample parking space. Although the place's stated purpose is to cater to inter-city transportation requirements of over 100,000 residents of the CBH, apparently a far larger number of the people from the rest of the city also use the same stand.

"In the meanwhile, the respondents are directed to maintain the status quo," reads the order. Advocate Syed Muhammad Saulat Rizvi, counsel of the petitioner Haji Nizamuddin, apprised the bench that on January 2 the CBH invited bids from the interested parties for the rental auction of Qasim Market and Bus Stand, spreading on an area of 3,078 square feet.

The top two bidders, Muhammad Irfan and Ziaul Islam Khan, opted out of the contest, leaving the petitioner as the top contender. According to the lawyer, on February 21 the CBH called Nizamuddin to deposit the required amount to secure the rental agreement after which he deposited Rs7.7 million through two pay orders. The possession of the premises was also later handed over to Nizamuddin.

However, Advocate Rizvi informed, on April 11 the CBH again advertised auction of the same facility and four days later the petitioner was asked to vacate the place. According to him, the action was taken on the directions of DG MLC.

The lawyer posed questions before the honourable court to decide - if the DG assumes the role of the board's competent authority and if the rules of PPRA were followed to cancel the previous auction under which the facility was given to the petitioner.

Nizamuddin prayed the court to order the respondents to act in strict compliance with the concerned laws and PPRA Rules 2004. The court was urged to direct the respondents to formalise agreement with the petitioner.