LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on 27th December ordered that the registration of new schools be made conditional to the implementation of the school bus policy.
Hearing public interest petitions on environmental issues, Justice Shahid Karim instructed the provincial government that buses must be made mandatory for school registration.
The judge ordered the government to halt the registration of new schools, saying every school must follow the policy of provision of buses to pick and drop the students.
The judge also expressed his displeasure over the delay in implementation of the court’s order to start buses for 50 percent of students, asking the government why steps were not taken in this regard.
The judge directed a law officer to submit a compliance report on the bus policy by Dec 30.
Separately, a member of a court’s judicial commission mentioned that they had instructed the Wasa managing director to resume the work on water meters.
Wasa’s counsel Mian Irfan Akram stated that there were financial issues with a Chinese company, that wanted to open a local bank account.
Justice Karim remarked that the matter had already been delayed significantly and should be expedited.
The government’s lawyer also informed the court that fines for traffic rule violations by motorcycles and cars were being increased.
The judge observed that imposing a fine of Rs10,000 for violation might deter vehicle owners, as a fine of Rs1,500 hardly makes any impact.
The judge also observed that laws cannot be formulated casually every day.
Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2024
