The management of the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club accused the railways authorities of damaging precious items of the club on Tuesday, after it partially resumed affairs of the club on orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The court on Monday gave the club management permission to run its affairs relating to golf, sporting and other facilities on a petition filed by Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Ali Zafar. Conducting the hearing, Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza issued an interim order allowing the club management to run its affairs till the next hearing on September 1.
“When we (the management) entered the club, we noticed that most of our precious items were missing,” club’s General Manager (GM) Operations Omer Mir said while talking to Pakistan Today. He said the railways authorities damaged precious items of the club worth millions of rupees.
“Our chillers are not working; swimming pool is out of order; water tank is also not in its original shape,” Mir said, adding they were calculating the exact losses, but according to a rough estimate, this figure might cross the million mark.
The general manager said when he entered the club Tuesday morning he noticed that the swimming pool was dry and was surrounded with fungus.
Mir said that club members were paying visits in droves to urge the club management to reopen the club which remained closed for more than a week. “The club will reopen Thursday if Eidul Fitr falls on Wednesday,” he said, adding that club employees had been paid salaries on the eve of Eid.
The manager also said that the railway police were still on the club premises, but the affairs of the club were being run by the management.
In the early hours of June 24, more than 400 officials of the Railways Police entered the club and took its control by force. The management moved the high court against the railways authorities, while the employees of the club staged protests against the unjust action of the railways.
Meanwhile Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq expressed firm resolve to pursue the Royal Palm case in the courts till justice was done. The minister, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, said the club was constructed on railways land under a 15-year-old agreement between the club’s previous management and the then Railways authorities. “This agreement was terminated as the club management defaulted on over two years’ payments,” he added.
The minister said the railways was facing cases regarding the Royal Palm club in both lower and higher courts, besides at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He said the railways would defend its rights at all levels in accordance with the law and constitution. He also said that the court, in its recent judgement, did not nullify the club’s possession by the railways management, however, it did constitute a three-member committee to supervise its (club’s) financial matters.
Rafiq said that the previous management had been allowed to deal with only its operations. He said the Railways would honour the court orders and present its reservations before it. He said the Pakistan Railways, a national institution, was fighting with the forces of status quo for the rights of the common man. The department was growing with each passing day and the nation and other state institutions should support it for the just cause, he added.
“I have re-invigorated a dying department like railways and I can also run the golf club efficiently,” Saad said, reasserting that the club management had not paid any rent for the past two years.
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