RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday restrained provincial government from recovering rupees one billion from a private company for allegedly violating construction contract of Punjab Assembly’s new building.

The court passed this order on a petition of Husnain Cotex Pvt Ltd and sought reply from the government within one week.

Representing the petitioner company, advocate Asjad Saeed argued that the appellant-company after securing the contract through lawful process in 2008 started construction work on the site.

He said almost half of the structure of the assembly’s new building was completed by 2010 when the PML-N led government stopped the company from further construction.

He argued that the contract agreement had the remedy to resolve any conflict through arbitration but the government ignored the rules.

He said the action of the government against the company was a result of sheer political victimization and asked the court to restrain it from recovering the alleged defaulted amount.