The Lahore High Court has suspended the distribution of electronic bikes to students and expressed discontent with the installation of festive lighting throughout the city during the Jashn-e-Baharan festival.
A court session at the Lahore High Court by Justice Shahid Karim focused on anti-smog measures. During this session, Justice Karim criticized the government’s extensive use of decorative lighting for the festival, suggesting that tree planting would be more beneficial for environmental enhancement.
Justice Karim raised concerns about the extravagant and seemingly unnecessary urban lighting, questioning the financial implications on taxpayers. He requested detailed expenditure reports on these installations. Furthermore, the court has temporarily held the government’s electronic bike raffle pending a court order and suspended the distribution process until May 13. Justice Karim has requested detailed information regarding the distribution metrics across various cities.
In his remarks, Justice Karim warned of students’ potential misuse of electronic bikes, including reckless driving and congregating around girls’ educational institutions. He proposed that the government should consider providing buses for college students instead. Additionally, he directed the implementation of measures to reuse ablution water from mosques for irrigation purposes and demanded a comprehensive report from the concerned departments at the subsequent hearing.
It is important to note that the Punjab government initiated a project to distribute 20,000 motorcycles to students. This included registering participants and establishing an interest-free subsidy program worth one billion rupees to provide these bikes. The initial phase of this project aimed to distribute 19,000 petrol and 1,000 electronic bikes to students in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Multan, and Faisalabad.
