Regulatory quagmire: IHC seeks reply from government

Notices issued to attorney general, other respondents

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court Friday issued notices to the attorney general for Pakistan and other respondents over the government’s decision to place five key public-oriented regulatory authorities under ministries.

The notice was issued after a petition in the IHC had challenged the federal government’s decision.

Justice Athar Minallah issued notices while hearing the petition filed by a worker of the Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party (PJDP), Muhammad Nawaz.

The petitioner, through his counsel Sheikh Ahsanuddin - who is also a focal person for the PJDP, had approached the IHC against the government’s decision requesting the court to declare it “unlawful”.

He made the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, federal government through secretary Cabinet Division, secretaries ministry of petroleum and natural resources, ministry of water and power division, ministry of information technology, finance division, oil & gas regulatory authority (OGRA), national electric power regulatory authority (NEPRA) through its chairman, Pakistan telecommunication authority (PTA) through its chairman, Chairman frequency allocation board, public procurement regulatory authority (PPRA) and all Pakistan CNG association respondents.

The PJDP officials had assailed the Cabinet Division’s December 19 notification which placed the administrative control of the five regulatory bodies under the ministries whose activities and functions they were supposed to watch, monitor and regulate.

The regulatory bodies include NEPRA, OGRA, PTA, Frequency Allocation Board and PPRA.

In the petition, Ahsanuddin argued that the federal government’s action violates articles 153 and 154 of the Constitution under which council of common interests (CCI) supervise the matters related to gas, electricity and petroleum.

Under the articles, the counsel stated, a council of common interest (CCI) was established and under Part II of the federal legislative list it is clearly mentioned that matters related to gas, petroleum and electricity have to be regulated with the CCI playing a supervisory role over the regulatory bodies.

With the notification and shifting direct control of OGRA, he said, the government had allowed CNG retailers to fix their own prices.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2016.