Daily Times

LAHORE: Following the “forced” closure of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club by Pakistan Railways, the management of the club as well as the civil society has strongly condemned the use of state machinery against peaceful citizens.

PR Police on Friday had broken into the club and forcefully took charge of the vicinity despite stay order in favour of the club’s management.

As per the documents available with this scribe, the contract between Pakistan Railways and Royal Palm consortium was signed in 2001 after public advertisements and competitive bidding.

The contract was vetted and approved by the Ministry of Law. Before Royal Palm took over, Pakistan Railways golf club had been illegally given on a 33-year lease to political favourites. Between 1980 and 2000, PR got a total of Rs 240 from the club (at a rent of Rs 1 per month) The documents reveal that since 2001, the Royal Palm consortium invested more than Rs 1,500 million in the club. As a result, Royal Palm paid Rs 550 million to Pakistan Railways and Rs 300 million in taxes to federal and provincial governments, making it the single most successful project in the history of Pakistan Railways.

The Royal Palm contract was challenged through two petitions before the Lahore High Court in 2001, which were subsequently dismissed by Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramdey. As per the documents, Royal Palm does not owe a single rupee to Pakistan Railways, as the last payments were provided through checks in September 2015, while the next payment was due in September 2016.

In 2011, the secretary of the old golf club (which used to pay Rs 1/month) challenged the Royal Palm contract on the grounds that it was causing a loss to Pakistan Railways. The case has been pending in the Supreme Court since 2011, while no order was passed by the SC against Royal Palm.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) again investigated the Royal Palm contract in 2014 after being directed by the Supreme Court order, dated November 12, 2011. The NAB investigation report, dated October 11, 2013, filed with the Supreme Court, found no illegality and recommended that the investigation be closed.

The documents further revealed that Pakistan Railways and Royal Palm renegotiated some of the commercial terms of the deal. The revised deal was approved by the executive committee of Pakistan Railways in 2012. Its approval was now pending before the Supreme Court.

Pakistan Railways now claims that Royal Palm is in default as no hotel has been built as per the 2001 agreement.

However, as per documents, the hotel has not been built as Pakistan Railways still has not given Royal Palm the land for the hotel. Not only is there a shrine on that land, but a civil court has also stopped Pakistan Railways from taking over the shrine land.

The so-called termination of Royal Palm’s contract with Pakistan Railways is completely illegal. Pakistan Railways is now destroying a world-class just like it has destroyed its own business in the past. Because of the illegal takeover, 1,000 people are out of job while 3,000 plus members have no access to their club.

On March 10, 2016, a civil court passed a stay order, stopping Pakistan Railways from taking possession of the Royal Palm club. The order is still valid but Pakistan Railways has completely ignored it, which falls under contempt of court.