SHC dismisses contractor’s plea

The Sindh High Court has dismissed a petition of a contractor against the non-payment of funds meant for the renovation of the mausoleum of Benazir Bhutto, slain chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), built in Garhi Khuda Bux, Larkana.

Petitioner Rakhial Shah submitted said he had been awarded a renovation contract for the mausoleum as well as court buildings at Kashmore. The contract had been completed as per the requirements of the authorities concerned, he claimed.

Despite the completion of the renovation work, the outstanding amount of Rs8.4 million was not cleared, he said.

According to the petitioner, the government still owes him Rs 8 million for the mausoleum in Larkana and Rs443,000 for the work in Kashmore.  The petitioner alleged that the funds meant for the renovation project had been misappropriated by the officers; therefore, he was made to run from pillar to post for the payments.

Additional Advocate General Ghulam Mustafa Mahesar, along with the chief engineer of works and service department, maintained that the petitioner had carried out renovation works, as mentioned in the petition. Mahesar said the government had appointed an inquiry committee, headed by the secretary works and services department, on the court’s directives to probe into the allegations.

The SHC’s division bench, headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, observed there were disputed questions of facts and could not be adjudicated in the present proceedings. Dismissing the petition, the court observed that there was nothing on record to undisputedly hold that the respondents had made any false statement in the court for the simple reason that they would deny any outstanding against them.