–Justice Bandial says middle class and the poor should also be able to access the club’s facilities
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday directed the Pakistan Railway’s Royal Palm Golf and Country Club consultant to submit the club’s feasibility report within a month.
A three-member special bench implementation bench of the court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the Railway Golf Club implementation case.
During the course of proceedings, the court directed that the club’s feasibility report should follow the court’s orders. The golf club consultant submitted a report containing five proposals.
Justice Bandial said that the golf club should also be used for the middle class and the poor. “Don’t make the club just a club of the rich,” he added. He said that there had been an example of the Islamabad Club where the education, character, family background and social status of the aspirant were taken into consideration.
Justice Ahsan said that foreign investors should also be given opportunities through open auction. He said that an element of transparency must be maintained for this project. The counsel for the Railway said that the Ministry was formulating a policy for the club.
Justice Ahsan said that the time was given for making the policy had passed and sought new date for formulation of policy. The Railway counsel said that he hoped to have a policy by June 10.
The Consultant Golf Club said that their proposals were of different types as it contained time and investment. Leasing clubs for 15 years could create investment opportunities, he added. He said that in this way investment opportunities could be given by using different options.
This feasibility report needed time to improve, he added.
Barrister Syed Ali Zafar appeared on behalf of Mainland Husnain Pakistan Limited, the ex-management company of Royal Palm Golf & Country Club, and informed the court that due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Pakistan Railways had shut down the Royal Palm Golf & Country Club altogether.
Upon the court’s inquiry, Pakistan Railways submitted a report of the consultant appointed by Pakistan Railways in which various business proposals relating to the project were detailed.
One of the suggestions was to lease the project with the permission to build apartments on the Railway land. Barrister Syed Ali Zafar submitted that he had not received the report compiled by the consultants of Pakistan Railways. He said he had various objections to the report including the fact that the rebidding had to be done by Pakistan Railways strictly in accordance with laws and the judgments of the Supreme Court including the judgment passed in this very case.
Barrister Zafar said that Pakistan Railways could not be allowed to convert a green space into a concrete block. The Supreme Court also observed that future bidding projects have to keep into account public purpose only and allowed all parties to file replies to the consultants’ report.
The court also directed Pakistan Railways to complete the feasibility and file it within one month for the court to consider the same. However, it was observed that the court is not here to make business decisions which will be left to the experts on the feasibility but needs to ensure that the public purpose is kept in mind.
The court also directed the appointed audit firm to complete the audit of the club for the remaining years so as to enable further proceedings to take place. The matter has now been adjourned for one month.
