BAHAWALPUR: A petition has been filed before the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the shifting of the Speedo Bus Service from Bahawalpur to Dera Ghazi Khan.

The bus service was launched in the city and its suburbs by the former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2018 but after coming into power, the PTI government, led by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, shifted it to Dera Ghazi Khan.

Advocate Sheraz Aslam filed a writ petition against the government decision, making the Punjab chief secretary, secretary transport, South Punjab transport secretary, Speedo Bus Service project director, DC Bahawalpur and secretary Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Bahawalpur, as respondents.

In his writ petition, Mr Aslam contended that the Punjab government had launched the bus service with 12 buses fleet.

The service was subsidised and thousands of students from the rural areas of Lodhran and Kahror Pucca, studying in Bahawalpur’s educational institutions, used to avail it.

The Punjab government had also spent a huge amount to construct bus terminals in Bahawalpur city and on the bus service routes to Lodhran.

The petition submitted that Chief Minister Usman Buzdar withdrew the Speedo Bus Service from Bahawalpur and started it in Dera Ghazi Khan, which was discriminatory against Bahawalpur.

The petitioner prayed that the respondents be directed to restore the bus service in Bahawalpur.

According to the petitioner’s counsel, Justice Sultan Tanveer of the Bahawalpur bench issued notices to the respondent for March 24.

HARASSMENT: The Multan women police station on the complaint of a woman have registered a harassment case against a senior forest official.

The complainant, who works in the same department, claimed that her boss made advances and sought sexual favours.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2022