LPG quota used as political bait, says PML-N leader

Asif told the SC that the beneficiaries registered gas companies in their relatives names to earn millions of rupees.

ISLAMABAD:

PML-N leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday apprised the Supreme Court that the Jamshoro Joint Venture Ltd (JJVL) had awarded Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) quota based on political affiliations to people without requisite experience.

Asif, who has filed the petition, said that the beneficiaries registered gas companies in their relatives’ names to earn millions of rupees.

Beneficiaries include JJVL chairperson Iqbal Ahmad, PML-Q leader Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, former NAB chairperson Munir Hafeez, former interior ministers Moeenuddin Haider and Aftab Sherpao, former Punjab governor Khalid Maqbool, former National Bank of Pakistan president Ali Raza and Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.

Ahsan argued that the SC should first decide on the petition’s maintainability since a similar petition is pending before the Sindh High Court. Justice Javed Iqbal observed that the SC is not bound by other courts. Hearing was adjourned till June 29.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2011.