LAHORE, July 9: The Lahore High Court on Friday annulled a contract for the 'adda' collection fee from a Zafarwal bus stand awarded at a price much lower than the reserve price and in ignoring a higher offer.

Allowing the petition, Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry ordered that the auction should be held afresh under the supervision of the Sialkot DCO or his representative to ensure transparency.

The petition, filed by Mohammad Amin from Zafarwal tehsil through Safdar Husain Tarar advocate, alleged that the contract was awarded by the tehsil Nazim to Ghulam Dastagir, the front man of Punjab Auqaf Minister Saeedul Hasan Shah, for a paltry Rs1.2 million while the reserve price was Rs1.73 million. He submitted that the contract had been awarded for Rs2.1 million last year.

He further submitted that he had made an offer of Rs2.3 million which was an increase of the contract amount of the previous year. The contract for the bus stand was awarded on June 22 stealthily by the Nazim whose administration failed to set up an auction committee.

Such committees, according to the petitioner, were required under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance which the Nazim and the tehsil administration flouted with impunity.

The petitioner submitted that the contract was awarded by the Nazim in person as an under-hand deal on the instructions from the minister. No competition was allowed by the Nazim who was under a legal obligation to make the contract leased out only after it was auctioned and all the other interested parties allowed to participate.