*SC summons provincial authorities’ replies in 15 days
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed the provincial authorities to submit their respective replies on a petition challenging Sindh Emergency Procurement Act 2014 that permitted government to procure armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for police.
Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, a civil rights campaigner went to the court naming Sindh chief secretary, Sinsh home secretary, Sindh police chief and a foreign company selling APCs as respondents.
In the petition, Naqvi submitted that provincial assembly passed the Sindh Emergency Procurement Bill, 2014 on February 7 this year. Subsequently, the provincial authorities made an agreement with a Serbian firm for the purchase of APCs worth Rs8 billion on inflated rates without issuing any legal procurement tender.
Naqvi claimed that APCs being purchased have already been scrapped in Serbia and were not up to the mark but the authorities were purchasing the same at exorbitant rates which included the cost of repairing.
The petitioner said that the same vehicles can be purchased from the US at a relatively lower price of Rs40 million each. He claimed that several top officers were removed when they refused to become part of this controversial deal. Former IGP was transferred for the same purpose, he said, adding that previous chief secretary and additional home secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah was also removed from their posts when they refused to approve the purchase.
Naqvi said that Sindh government enacted the law with malafide intention in order to purchase the APCs and other equipment including bulletproof jackets, helmets for the law enforcement agencies, illegally. The court was pleaded to declare the Act and subsequent procurements as unconstitutional and set aside the new law.
After hearing preliminary hearing, three-judge bench of the court headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim sought reports from relevant authorities within 15 days.
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He suggested key steps to improve transport system; the problem of commuter can never be resolved without mass transit system in the city. Similarly Karachi Circular Railway is required to be revived which will be helpful to improve transport system. The project of Bus Rapid Transit System along with Green line and Red line for Karachi is reportedly in the pipeline which is required to be speeded up.
The operation of CNG green buses which was suspended due to unknown circumstances must be restarted to overcome the overloading of public transport.
He said that ban on the new public service routes may be lifted which was in place since 1985, adding that investment in transport sector need to be encouraged by providing them subsidy, adding that life of the vehicles should be specified and proper bus stops be constructed and notified by the government.
A division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar after going through the report directed petitioner to submit his objections to the report of Traffic DIG and adjourned the hearing of case till date to be fixed later.
The trust’s Chairman Agha Syed Attaullah Shah stated in the petition that capacity of public vehicles to carry commuters is clearly tabulated in Manual of Motor Vehicle Laws and its enforcement is inevitable for ensuring safety and security of passengers.
He said that transporters are not allowed under law to overload their vehicles and allow passengers to stand on footboards, along aisles and cling to windows and sit on rooftops of the buses. Shah said that act of transporters to overload their vehicles is also tantamount to committing murder as they put lives of commuters at risk.
He requested the court to declare the overloading of public transport buses illegal and directed transport authorities to stop all such illegal activities.
