Federal cabinet’s ‘discretion’ to give subsidies

SC disposes of pleas against withdrawal of power subsidy

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of petitions filed against the withdrawal of the federal government’s subsidy to K-Electric (KE), saying that if there was no objection to the grant of subsidy, then why there was an objection to its withdrawal.

During a hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial remarked that when the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) was not included at the time of granting the subsidy, there were no issues with KE and the industries.

Sitting on the bench, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah enquired about the law under which the subsidy was granted. The Power Division secretary replied that the federal cabinet used its powers to provide subsidies, adding that subsidies were given in the same way as to the utility stores.

He said that subsidies came from the budget, which had been approved by parliament. Sometimes, he continued, a supplementary grant was also issued. He informed the court that the government had set aside Rs330 million for the K-E, and added that the K-E's tariff was lower than the national tariff.

The secretary, in reply to another query, said that if the subsidy was approved by Nepra, even then the result would have been the same. He added that if the amount of subsidy was received from the ministry, there would be more burden on the common consumers.

Justice Shah remarked that the people must get relief. He further said that the ministry intervened in the working of the power regulator. The chief justice said that the regulator should not be bypassed in the future.

The Power Division secretary also said that electricity consumers were divided into seven to eight categories and the tariffs were determined according to those categories. About the subsidy, he said that the government gave a relief of Rs3 billion in 2019.