Competition: CNG station goes to court over rival

Restraining order issued over alleged circumvention of ban on new licences.

KARACHI: A CNG station owner at Nooriabad has won a stay order against a rival opening up another station in front of his.

On Tuesday, a division bench of the High Court of Sindh comprising Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai issued the restraining order. The petitioner has alleged that the authorities have circumvented a ban on new licenses by the prime minister.

The bench had earlier heard the counsel for the petitioner who has named the ministry of petroleum and natural resources, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Sui Southern Gas Company Limited and Ramesh as respondents.

The petitioner has argued that Ramesh was given a license to set up a CNG filling station in Thatta but when he couldn’t, he was allowed to set up one in front of the petitioner’s business at Nooriabad.

The petitioner maintains that he is aggrieved by the arbitrary, illegal and mala fide actions by Ogra officers  who are issuing licenses surreptitiously and in violation of the directives by the controlling ministry for extraneous considerations and huge bribes.

He relied upon a decision by the prime minister and conveyed to all concerned by the PM’s secretariat that CNG connections should not be given except to those who have already imported CNG machines.

The petitioner alleged that Ogra officers were circumventing the ban on the pretext of a change of site.

After hearing the counsel for the petitioner, the bench ordered pre-admission notices to the respondents for February 8 besides the Deputy Attorney General.

While seeking comments from the respondents, the bench also restrained Ramesh from establishing a CNG filling station till further orders.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2011.