LHC issues notices to centre, others against utility stories' closure

Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the federal government and others against the closure of utility stores across the country.

LHC Justice Muhammad Raza Qureshi heard the petition against the closure of utility stores. The court issued notices to the federal government, the Secretary Cabinet Division, the Secretary Ministry of Law and the Managing Director of Utility Stores Corporation USC).

The applicant took the plea that he had been an employee of a utility store for the last 10 years. The utility store was a profitable enterprise and paid taxes to the tune of Rs25 billion annually. The net profit of the utility stores was Rs2bn while the organisation itself was bearing expenses and salaries of billions of rupees, the applicant further pleaded.

According to the petitioner, the utility stores were being closed on the instructions of the IMF. Due to the closure of utility stores, 11,000 employees became unemployed. Sections 293 to 426 of the Companies Act 2017 prescribe the procedure for winding up a company. Any company could be wound up by a court order or direction of the board of directors. The Board of Directors (BoDs) had declared Utility Stores as a profitable enterprise.

The petitioner requested the court to declare as invalid the correspondence issued by the Cabinet Division on August 7, 2024 and the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Division on August 9.