2002 PLP 791 (MLD)

Writ Petition No. 3378 of 2000/BWP, 412, 566, 532, 115, 872 of 2000, 2094, 1120, 1543, 1568, 2090, 2271, 2274 and 2272, 2273 of 1999, decided on 25th April, 2001. ‑‑‑‑Art. 199‑‑‑Constitutional petition‑‑‑Maintainability‑‑‑Petitioners who were running Extra Department Public Call Offices had challenged notices issued by the Department with regard to conversion of public call office to pay card system‑‑‑Controversy involved had already been finally decided by the Supreme Court in other such‑like cases‑‑‑ Constitutional petitions were dismissed by the High Court with directions that Department would issue fresh notice to the petitioners giving two months' period to convert extra‑department public call officers into pay card phone system. Mian Abdul Muqtadir for Petitioners. Masood Gillani for Respondents. This order will dispose of Writ Petitions Nos. 3378, 566, 532, 115 of 2000, 2094, 1120, 1543, 1568, 2090, 2271, 2274, 2272 of 1999, 412 of 2000, 2273 of, 1999 and 872 of 2000, as the common question of law, and facts is involved in these petitions.

2. The fads relevant for the disposal of these writ petitions are that the petitioners were running Extra Department Public Call Offices (ED. PCOs.). The respondent have entered into an agreement with the foreign companies i.e. Tele Call, Word Call and Call Points for installation of Pay Card Phones. The petitioner received notices from the respondent No.5 asking them to convert their Public Call Offices into Call Offices of those companies and get equipment installed by them. The writ petitioners in all the writ petitions invoked the Constitutional jurisdiction of this Court to seek direction': from this Court to the respondents not to enforce its decision in I violation of the Policy and to operate the operation of Pay Card l Phones, World Call, Tele Call within 500 meters of already established (ED PCOs.) of the petitioners and further to restrain the respondents to cancel their Extra Departmental PCO and to declare the notice issued to the writ petitioners by the respondents by which they were asked for conviction of ED PCOs into Pay Card be illegal and without lawful authority.

3. The controversy involved in these writ petitions had also been disputed in Writ Petition No. 7742 of 1998 at Multan Bench. The said writ petitions along with other writ petitions were heard and all these writ petition were dismissed vide judgment dated 21‑10‑1999. Feeling aggrieved the writ petitioners filed Intro‑Court Appeals which were also dismissed by a Division Bench of this Court. The judgment passed in Writ petition No.7742 of 1998 and in Intro‑Court Appeal was challenged by the writ petitioners through Civil Petition Nos.2170‑L of 1999 and 186-L to 195 of 2000 and the Honourable Supreme ,Court through its judgment dated 2‑10‑2000 declined these petitions. Thus, in view of the judgment passed by the apex Court of the country in abovereferred civil petitions having no force are a so dismissed. However, the respondents/Department will issue fresh two months' notice to the writ petitioners to convert their ED PCOs into Pay Card Phone System and thereafter, to proceed further. The Department/respondents will also take into consideration the clause 5.2 of the agreement criterion of minimum 500 metres distance between PCO Pay Card Phone if the petitioners accept the offer of the Department of conversion of their ED PCOs. . H.B.T./M‑987/L Petition dismissed.