KARACHI, June 4: The Sindh High Court dismissed on Friday an application by the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) for arbitration over the rejection of Australian wheat earlier this year.
The application was moved in a suit instituted by M/s Tradesmen International against the rejection of the wheat consignments through Advocate Abdul Hafeez Pirzada.
Maintaining that the consignments were wrongfully rejected in violation of the supply contract, the plaintiff sought recovery of $ 1,011,375 deposited as cash performance guarantee and liquidated and unliquidated damages amounting to over Rs 1576 million for the expenses and losses incurred and suffered by it on account of loss of reputation and goodwill and business prospects.
Appearing for Passco, Advocate Qazi Abdul Hamid submitted an application that the supply contract itself provided a mechanism for resolution of disputes arising from it.
According to the contract, any disagreement between the parties was to be referred to arbitration under the Arbitration Act. The parties were required to appoint arbitrator/arbitrators and the process was to be initiated in Lahore. He sought rejection of the plaint on the ground.
Justice Mushir Alam dismissed the application after hearing the parties and decided to proceed with the suit. A deputy attorney- general was asked to ascertain from the federal agencies concerned whether the samples which allegedly tested positive for fungus and insects in the wheat consignments were still intact.
DIRECTIVE TO CUSTOMS: A division bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Amir Hani Muslim asked the customs authorities to clear all the goods imported by a sacked contractor for Motorway-I in accordance with the law. The order was passed on a petition moved by the National Highway Authority against seizure of expansion joints imported by M/s Bayinder, the former M-I contractor.
Advocate Nisar A. Mujahid submitted that the machinery imported by the NHA for construction of the motorway was exempted from various duties and taxes. The imports were made by the contractor on behalf of the NHA.
After the termination of the contractor, the customs authorities not only declined to release the imported consignments to the NHA but also decided to auction them. Imports worth about Rs 27.5 million were thus stuck up and the construction of the motorway was being delayed.
The bench directed the customs authorities to release the goods in accordance with the law and asked the clearing agents, M/s Security Packers, to hand over the original documents submitted by the sacked contractor to the NHA. The proceedings were also attended by M-I general manager Sabir Hasan.
RECALL MOTION: The Sindh High Court ordered on Thursday fresh proceedings on the recall motion of the Sanghar district nazim within seven days after an address by the nazim to the house.
Petitioner Roshandin Junejo had approached the court through Advocates Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada and Syed Khalid Shah against his ouster as the Sanghar district nazim by a vote on "internal recall motion" on May 6.
He said the recall motion was tabled in his absence when he was away in Dubai (the UAE). He was not given an opportunity to address the house and was condemned unheard. The motion was unlawful and he continued to be the district nazim without any clog on the exercise of his powers.
Disposing of the petition, a division bench, comprising Justices Shabbir Ahmed and Khilji Arif Husain, ordered: "We are of the view that the petitioner should be given an opportunity to address the house, presided over by an independent person nominated by the chairman of the provincial election authority, who will call a session for a single item agenda, that is, recall motion within seven days from the receipt of this order.
"The chairman will provide the ballot papers for secret balloting and the vote on the recall motion would be taken in accordance with Section 24 of the local government election law.
The petitioner should be given full opportunity to address the house on the allegations in the manner provided under the law followed by the tabling of the motion." Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan appeared for the respondent provincial government and Advocate Kamal Azfar for the deputy nazim.
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