The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of suo motu case pertaining to the Orange Line Metro Train project and said the resulting crisis at Lahore Development Authority (LDA) was due to conflict of interest.
During the hearing, construction companies submitted a bank guarantee of Rs1 billion before a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. The bench handed over LDA’s cheque worth Rs40 million and Rs60 million to construction companies. Justice Ijazul Ahsan questioned the inclusion of property dealers in the LDA board. “It is a conflict of interest,” he noted. Counsel for LDA Izhar Siddiqui said he was unaware of property dealers’ presence on the board. “However, individuals associated with housing societies are on the board,” he added.
The top judge remarked that the downfall of LDA was a result of conflict of interest. “If a case is filed pertaining to conflict, we will review the matter.” The apex court disposed of the OLMT suo motu case.
Published in Daily Times, January 17th 2019.
