People standing in queue to get petrol in Lahore on Wednesday. PHOTO: NNI
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the LHC directed the petroleum secretary and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) officials to submit the report on Thursday (today).
He was hearing two petitions filed against the shortage of petrol in the province. The counsel for ministry of petroleum stated that the demand of petrol in the province was 12,290 metric tonnes per day in December. “The demand rose to more than 40,000 metric tonnes a day in January after petroleum prices fell. The rise in demand caused the shortage of petrol. Petrol is now available in the province and anyone can get it without any hassle,” he claimed.
The judge asked why then people were still standing in long queues for petrol. “Where is that petrol being kept? Didn’t the government know that the decline in prices will raise its demand? Why did the government not have sufficient stock?” Justice Shah asked. The judge said that it was important to know what had caused the crisis. He directed the respondents to inform the court about the mechanism of fixing the prices of petroleum products.
The petitions had been filed by Advocate Safdar Shaheen Pirzada and Advocate Gohar Nawaz Sindhu. The lawyers had said that the government had created an artificial shortage of petrol. The petitioners had requested the court to order a judicial inquiry into the crisis.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2015.
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