Court hearing: State plea against LNG import policy suspension rejected

Supreme Court refers the case back to Lahore High Court.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has rejected the government’s request to vacate the stay order issued by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on the suspension of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import policy and has sent the petition to the LHC for a review.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry stated the SC was not an appropriate forum to entertain the petition, since it was still pending before the LHC. The chief justice said, according to media reports, the policy was adopted to benefit an individual. People have also expressed their reservations since the LNG policy is likely to increase gas prices and burden consumers. Two private companies had moved the Lahore High Court against the new policy. They contended in the petition that the import of only 20% gas has been allowed and heavy taxes have been imposed in the new policy. They had requested the court to declare the new policy illegal and in the meantime, asked for its suspension. The LHC had issued a stay order till the next date of hearing, which is yet to be fixed. Additional Attorney General KK Agha contended that the LNG policy was formulated to avoid a shortfall, but since the LHC has suspended it, there would be severe gas shortage in winter. He said importing LNG is the only option to meet rising demand for gas and requested that the stay order be vacated. The chief justice remarked the stay order was granted till the next date of hearing and not till the decision of the court.

In another case, the chief justice issued notices to Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwarul Haq and others on a petition filed against the appointment of PCO judges to the appellate court of Gilgit-Baltistan. The petitioner’s counsel, Ikram Chaudhry, in his initial arguments contended that some of the judges, now over 70 years of age, had taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf in 2007. Chaudhry argued that the Supreme Court has given its verdict in the Sindh High Court Bar Association’s case against PCO judges. He pleaded with the court to annul the judges’ appointment to the appellate court in light of the judgment.

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