The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday ordered the Sindh government to ensure that University Road was made fully functional within two months and observed that the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Karachi was expected to be completed by October 2027.
Disposing of a petition of the BRT project’s former contractor against sealing of its office at the Aladin Park, a division bench of the high court headed by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar observed that public in Karachi was suffering badly due to the bad condition of University Road.
The high court observed that there shall be no hindrance in any manner for the public and private transport on University Road and for that, the Sindh government may earmark additional funds directly or through re-appropriation.
Regarding the completion of the Red Line project, the high court observed that the government had given a deadline of October 2027 for the completion of the project and it was expected that the BRT scheme shall be made functional in October 2027.
The bench made it clear that the construction of the BRT shall not in any manner affect smooth flow of traffic on University Road. The petitioner had approached the SHC against the sealing of its offices and termination of their contract by the Sindh government-owned TransKarachi, citing reasons of unsatisfactory performance.
The Islamabad-based joint venture CR3-AM Associates had been awarded a Rs.15 billion contract for the Red Line Lot-2 from Mosamiat to Numaish in January 2022. The petitioner’s counsel, Salahuddin Ahmed, said the construction was delayed due to certain acts of TransKarachi, including design changes, variations and failure to make part of the site available. He said the petitioners had also succeeded in the arbitration process, which was binding on the parties.
He said the Sindh government authorities terminated the contract and sealed the premises of the petitioners situated at the Aladin Park, and were attempting to remove the entire stock, including, but not limited to, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, trucks, steel and construction material.
The SHC observed that the petitioner obtained 10 acres of land near the Aladin Park on Rashid Minhas Road, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block-11 on a rental basis through an order on July 21, 2022 issued by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) senior director for Zoo, Safari Park and recreation for a period of three years.
The bench observed that the land was rented out against six-month payment of Rs3,146,000 for the establishment of camp office, labour accommodations, material yard and batching plants for the BRT construction.
The high court observed that the tenancy period of three years expired on July 20, 2025 therefore a final notice on April 6, 2026, after which the KMC demanded possession of the land within seven days.
The bench observed that the KMC obtained possession over the land through the Karachi commissioner alongw ith the machinery and other material. It also observed that since the possession of the land now lied with the KMC and the petitioner had not arrayed the owner of the property as a party to the proceedings, therefore no writ could be issued against a person who was not a party to the proceedings.
The high court observed that since the revenue authorities had acted under the directives of the KMC for the retrieval of possession, for which due notice was given to the petitioner, as such, the petitioner, if it was aggrieved by an action of the authority, had a remedy under provisions of the Sindh Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) Act, 2010 to file a review petition, or as the case may be, to approach the concerned tribunal.
Regarding sealing of the premises, the high court observed that since the KMC or even the TransKarachi had not claimed any right of the ownership of the machinery, the action of the authorities of sealing the machinery at the behest of the KMC was declared illegal.
The SHC observed that if the TransKarachi wasof the view that in terms of the clauses 17, 18 and 19 of the contract agreement, the machinery was required by them, they may approach the Dispute Resolution Board for retaining the machinery.
The bench observed that in case, the board failed to decide the request within 30 days, the machinery shall be handed over to the petitioner as per endorsement of the commissioner appointed by the court and inventory prepared by him.
As far as the contract on the BRT is concerned, the high court observed that the TransKarachi had already given a contract termination notice to the petitioner contractor and in terms of the contract agreement, the same fell within the contractual dispute to be resolved by the Dispute Resolution Board or through arbitration. The petitioner company shall be at liberty to avail the remedies available under the contract agreement, the SHC observed.
The bench observed that the contract was awarded to the petitioner company against an estimated cost of Rs16 billion and as per the statement of the Sindh advocate general, an amount of Rs15 billion had already been disbursed to the contractor.
The SHC observed that the TransKarachi shall be at liberty to claim the delay and defect liability payments through a mechanism provided under the contract agreement and vice versa if the petitioner had any grievance in that regard.
