Price Hike: ‘Petrol bomb’ challenged in court

IHC issues notice to Secretary Petroleum asking for response to petition against price hike.

ISLAMABAD:

Minister of Petroleum Secretary Imtiaz Qazi was issued notice by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday, asking to respond to a petition challenging the recent increase in petroleum prices.

Advocate Kokab Iqbal filed a civil miscellaneous application saying that he had already filed a writ petition on the issue in 2008 before the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench that was pending.

The petitioner contended that government has increased POL prices by nine per cent on March 31,”which is extremely unfair to the common man of the country.”

He maintained that the step was cruel, as the people were already suffering from sky-high inflation. “This is going to make things worse,” he said.

The petitioner informed the court that after this increment, prices of items of daily use would also increase. The lawyer said the matter was of grave public importance and the court should take notice of the issue on priority.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2011.