MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): The Azad Kashmir High Court on Saturday dismissed a writ petition filed against the tenders for new road construction projects of the Highways Department across Azad Kashmir.
The court’s decision has lifted the interim stay order on the projects, paving the way for the continuation of tenders.
The court ruled that there has been no violation of policy and law in the tender process.
The petition was filed by contractor Jamil Alam and others, claiming that the government has committed serious irregularities, political nepotism, and violated the law in the distribution of development funds.
Earlier last month, the court issued an interim stay order on the 990-km road construction projects. The decision had halted all these projects, along with the newspaper advertisements and tenders.
The AJK High Court judge, Justice Shahid Bihar, issued this interim order and issued notices to all the relevant departments, including the Highways, Planning and Development, and Finance departments.
During the hearing, the court sought detailed responses for further action in the next hearing.
However, with today’s decision, the Highways Department has been allowed to proceed with announcing the tender dates.
