LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday turned down a plea of the government and directed it to submit details of an agreement with China on the Orange Line of Lahore Metro Train to the open court instead of the chamber. The bench consisting of Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and Justice Shahid Karim ordered production of the record in the court on Tuesday (today). The bench was hearing petitions moved on behalf of civil society members such as IA Rehman, Kamil Khan Mumtaz, Neelam Hussain, the Cecil and Iris Chaudhry Foundation, Judicial Activism Panel and the Lahore Bachao Tehreek against the project. During the hearing on Monday, the counsel for the federal government submitted that the agreement between Pakistan and China was confidential and could not be produced in an open court. He said the bench could examine these documents in the chamber. The bench turned down this request and directed the counsel to submit the agreement to the open court. Petitioners’ counsel Azhar Siddique said the Pakistan-China agreement on the Orange Line project was not transparent. He said the government did not even discuss the multibillion rupees project in the assembly, where public representatives were sitting. He said the Supreme Court abolished many development projects in the past because the assemblies did not approve them. He said the government was spending funds allocated for other sectors like education and health on the Orange Line project. He submitted that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif paid more attention to roads than basic health care facilities. He said the cost of the project was not Rs 160 billion; it was more than Rs 250 billion. Siddique said the money paid for acquisition of public and private land by the government should be included in the cost of the main project. He said the project put heritage of the Lahore city on stake, as 26 historical and protected monuments, including Shalimar Gardens, General Post Office, Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court, Lahore High Court and Chauburji were going to lose their significance. He said the government initially took the stance that the project was part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and changed this stance later.