BRTS buses: LHC turns down government plea challenging stay order

Asks fuel suppliers to provide report on availability of Euro II compliant diesel.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday turned down a petition by the government challenging a stay order issued against opening bids to purchase 1,200 Euro II compliant diesel buses.

A law officer representing the government said Euro II compliant diesel was available in Pakistan.

He said the stay order meant that the government would not be able to purchase buses for the Metro Bus Service (MBS) in time. He asked the court to vacate the stay order.

However, Justice Ijazul Ahsan dismissed the plea and summoned an oil company representative on September 17 to provide a report on the availability of the required fuel.

On September 3, the judge had restrained the provincial government from opening bids for the purchase of 1,200 diesel buses.

The petition was moved by Gujranwala City Tours. The petitioner said the government was planning to purchase the buses and hand them over to operators against a soft terms loan.

He said Euro II compliant diesel was not available in the province and oil refineries had stated they would be unable to produce it in the near future.

He said the government had earlier purchased CNG buses which too are not operating three-days a week due to non-availability of CNG.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2012.