LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Tuesday restrained the Punjab Government from shifting of the General Bus Stand from Badami Bagh to three different locations.
Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the order on a petition filed by Tariq Mehmood and other transport owners. On court query, an assistant advocate general told the court that it was a policy matter and the decision was made to facilitate passengers and reduce pollution. He also informed the court that the stand would be shifted to three locations including Shahdara, Gajju Mata and Thokar and at present development work was in progress at Thokar only. He requested the court to dismiss the petition being devoid of merit. However, the petitioner’s counsel Khawja Saeed Zafar opposed the contentions of assistant advocate general and contended the court to stay the shifting. After recording initial arguments, the court stayed the shifting of general bus stand till the completion of the proposed bus stands.
The petitioners had submitted that the stand spread over 282-kanal land and had been operational since 1962. They submitted that 3,500 buses facilitated passengers and provided employment to 20,000 people. They pleaded that the government had orally ordered to transfer the stand from Badami Bagh to Thokar which would not only  cause inconvenience to passengers but also affect people related to it.