KARACHI, Sept 10: The Sindh High Court on Saturday issued a notice to the Privatization Commission for Sept 13 in an application for cancellation of a meeting of bidders called to dispose of Javedan Cement Factory.

Advocate Aziz A. Munshi, former attorney-general, informed the court that the commission had scheduled a meeting of bidders on Thursday despite a clear injunction in favour of his clients, M/s Dadabhoy Investment (Pvt) Limited, in a pending suit. They had submitted the highest bid in 1994, which was accepted. When the commission vacillated, the bidder moved the SHC and a division bench upheld his right. The commission challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal in 1996.

The plaintiff alleged that the commission had been delaying transfer of the factory on one pretext or another. He filed another suit this year, in which a notice was issued for Sept 15 and an interim injunction restrained the commission from inviting new bids or reopening negotiations with new bidders in the meanwhile. Despite the injunction, the commission has scheduled a meeting of new bidders for Sept 14, Mr Munshi submitted before Justice S. Ali Aslam Jafri in his chamber on Saturday afternoon. The court issued notices to the commission and a Karachi-based federal attorney for Sept 13.