LAHORE: Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court – after hearing a petition filed by Mian Shabir Asmail against Nishat Mills Ltd and others in the matter of the procurement of new uniforms for the Punjab Police – dismissed the case with costs.
The chief justice also ordered the petitioner to deposit Rs 10,000 as costs for the non-serious petition, which was filed without verification of facts and not supported with any evidence to establish that PPRA rules were violated in the award of tender to Nishat Mills Ltd for the supply of uniforms to the Punjab Police.
In the final judgement, the chief justice stated that such petitions “bring a bad name to public interest litigation and lower its credibility in the eyes of the court”. In his concluding remarks, the chief justice further stated that such a petition “not only abuses the process of public interest litigation but also burdens the court and draws upon its time and resources, besides, eating into the time allocated for other cases”.
The Punjab Police denied any violation of law and applicable rules with regard to this procurement. The Punjab Police had been working for several years on the development of a new uniform for its officers, in consultation with the National Textile University Faisalabad, for the development and finalisation of the specifications of the new uniform. Considerable sampling of reputable textile concerns was undertaken prior to finalisation of the specifications and issuance of the tender for the stitching and production of the uniforms in 2017.
After exhaustive testing and detailed analysis of the product and production capabilities of all tender participants, Nishat Mills and one other textile mill qualified for the blind competitive bidding process, of which Nishat Mills was awarded the contract based on competitive price and product delivery. The production and delivery of the new uniforms was initiated in March 2017 and is to conclude by November 2017, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
This is not the first contract for new uniforms that Nishat Mills has been engaged in, having worked with the Punjab Police previously during the last three years and having developed military uniform fabrics for the French Army (2007-2008), Czech Republic Forces (2008), Malaysian Forces, KSA Forces and Turkish forces in the past. Indeed, during 2009-2012, Nishat Mills successfully produced and delivered over 6.6 million metres of technical camouflaged fabric for the Turkish military.
Nishat Mills is also proud to have developed and manufactured uniforms for the Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Army (2012-2013), the latter being preceded by significant research and development conducted in collaboration with the National Textile University Faisalabad. Nishat Mills is currently engaged in the production of uniforms and uniform fabric for the FC in Balochistan and the Pakistan Army.
In the future, Nishat Mills looks to further enhance its product diversity for law enforcement/armed forces personnel, and is currently in the process of developing all-weather jackets, bulletproof vests, all-terrain sleeping bags and state-of-the-art uniforms, with the capability for embedded technology.
