SHC dismisses pilots’ fake licences plea

The Sindh High Court (SHC) dismissed on Tuesday a plea challenging the cancellation of pilots' fake licences, declaring it not maintainable.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Khadim Hussain M Shaikh and Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry, was hearing the plea.

The petitioner, Waqar Ahmed, maintained in the plea that his name was also included in the list issued by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the pilots whose licences were to be terminated. Waqar claimed that he had acquired his licence through the CAA and did not work for Pakistan International Airlines.

Subsequently, Justice Shaikh remarked that, "a high level inquiry against the provision of licences by the CAA is underway and the SHC cannot interfere in this matter." He stated that following the inquiry, valid licences fake licences would be cancelled.

The court directed the petitioner to retract his plea, as it would otherwise be rejected with a penalty imposed on him.

Adjustment charges plea

Separately, the same bench accepted the request to conduct an immediate hearing of a plea seeking a complete waiver of the Industrial Support Package Adjustment (ISPA) charges.

The petitioner's counsel maintained that the federal government had announced ISPA in 2016, after which K-Electric (KE) has increased the rate of electricity for the industries and the adjustment charges of commercial consumers were included in their electricity bills. The complainant further maintained that these charges were illegal as KE had not sought the permission to do so from the National Electrical Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).

The petitioner moved the court to nullify KE's notification for the increase in electricity rates for commercial consumers while restricting them from collecting additional charges.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2020.