The Sindh High Court on Wednesday appointed a commissioner to prepare an inventory from the sealed site of contractor whose contract for the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit BRT corridor project has been terminated by the Sindh government-owned company TransKarachi, citing reasons of unsatisfactory performance.
Islamabad-based joint venture consortium CR3-AM associates were awarded a Rs15 billion contract for the BRT project-Lot 2 from Mosamiat to Numaish in January 2022.
The petitioners’ counsel Salahuddin Ahmed submitted that the construction of BRT was delayed due to certain acts of the Sindh government-owned company, including design changes, variations, and failure to make part of the site available. He said the petitioners also succeeded in arbitration process, which was binding on the parties.
He said that the Sindh government authorities terminated the contract and sealed the premises of the petitioners situated at Aladin Park and are attempting to remove the entire stock, including but not limited to machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, trucks, steel and construction material.
The counsel said that the respondent may be restrained from interfering with the possession of the petitioners over the subject property and removing their stock from the site. He also requested the court to appoint a commissioner to visit the site and prepare a comprehensive inventory of all goods and stock of the petitioners lying at the sealed site.
An SHC division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar, observed that the points raised require consideration and issued notices to the Sindh government, provincial law officer, TransKarachi and others, and called their comments on the next date of the hearing. The court in the meantime appointed a commissioner to inspect the site and prepare an inventory of the petitioners’ stock and submit a report on the next date of the hearing.
