The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) had ordered the Sindh government to stop onward steps for the procurement of armored personnel carriers (APC), arms and ammunition for the Sindh police and issued notice to Heavy Mechanical Complex Taxella (HMCT).
The 3-member bench of the SC comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Athar Saeed passed this order on Friday while hearing a petition filed at the SCP Karachi Registry by the petitioner, Mehmood Ul Hassan Naqvi.
The petitioner in his petition claimed that the Sindh government had approved the procurement of 20 APCs worth Rs 8 billion from a company in Serbia, MS Ugo Import of Serbia, and offered a heavy sum of money as bribe. Prior to the purchase of APCs, the Sindh government had given Rs 650 million to the middle man who assisted the Sindh government in reaching an agreement with the Serbian firm.
The petitioner further stated that in a meeting held on March 15, 2013, under the aegis of former acting inspector general of police Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh it was declared that the agreement was finalised and approved for the purchase of 20 APCs and arms and ammunition for police and the same day the Serbian firm was awarded the contract. The petitioner claimed that the proposed APCs to be bought from the Serbian firm were all used and repaired for sale to the Sindh government.
The petitioner said that the HMCT was a reputable institution that manufactured APCs which were being used by Pakistan Army and were also exported to other countries.
However, Sindh Assistant Advocate General Ghulam Qadir apprised the apex court that the APCs manufactured by the HMCT had failed to meet the required needs and it would be tantamount to jeopardizing cops’ lives by forcing them to use the APCs manufactured by the HMCT.
On this, the apex court in its remarks said that the Pakistan Army was also using APCs manufactured by the HMCT.
The apex court ordered for the stoppage of purchase of APCs from the Serbian firm and issued notice to the HMCT managing director to produce details about APCs manufactured by the HMCT.
