Stay order extended in BRT project case

• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) challenged the PHC verdict.
• During the course of proceedings, Justice Bandial said the provincial government could not escape from objections about the transparency of the project.
• He said the government was custodian of the tax payers money and questions would be asked if the money was not used properly.

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Tuesday extended the stay order against the Peshawar High Court (PHC)'s ruling over Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the case against the PHC ruling regarding structural change in the BRT project.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) challenged the PHC verdict.

During the course of proceedings, Justice Bandial said the provincial government could not escape from objections about the transparency of the project.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's counsel prayed before the court that the completion date of the project was July 31, however, the construction work came to a halt for 25 days due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

He said a new completion date had not been given by the contractors as of yet.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the BRT project was being made from the taxpayer’s money and the provincial government was responsible for utilising the funds in a transparent manner.

He said the government was custodian of the tax payers money and questions would be asked if the money was not used properly.

He said it seemed that the provincial government was moving one step forward and two steps back on the mega project.

Extending the stay order against the PHC's earlier judgment, the apex court sought a reply from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on objections raised by the petitioner and adjourned the hearing till date in office.