The Lahore High Court on Thursday summoned Pak-Arab Refinery (PARCO) managing director for November 15 to appraise the court about availability of diesel for Euro II buses in Punjab.
The single bench comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan passed the orders on a petition filed by Gujranawala City Tours challenging purchase of 1200 Euro II buses by the Punjab government.
As proceedings started, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that the diesel suitable for Euro II buses was not available in many cities of the province, including Lahore.
The respondent’s counsel admitted that the said diesel was not available in Lahore.
The court after hearing the arguments summoned MD PARCO to know the real facts and adjourned the matter till November 15.
The petitioner, in his petition, submitted that the Punjab government through an advertisement announced to provide Euro II diesel buses to transporters on soft loans in August and sought bids for the purpose.
He pointed out that the diesel suitable for Euro II buses was not available in Punjab and diesel available was suitable for Euro I buses only. He said diesel suitable for Euro I could not be used for Euro II buses as it would damage the bus engine.
The petitioner pleaded the court to restrain the Punjab government from inviting/receiving bids to purchase 1200 buses of Euro II Model till the required diesel was available in major districts. Earlier, the court stopped the Punjab government from inviting/receiving tenders for purchasing 1,200 buses but later vacated stay to the extent of 100 buses for Metro Bus System on a civil miscellaneous application by the government.
The Punjab government informed the court through application that it approached PARCO with a specific inquiry of whether or not diesel suitable for EURO II model buses was available in the country. The PARCO informed that diesel suitable
for EURO II buses was available all over the country in 261 outlets including 153 outlets located in Punjab.
