PHC rules: Illegal gas development cess suspended

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) suspended the federal governments “Gas Infrastructure Development Cess”. Shumail Butt, counsel for petitioner Rehman Cotton Mills, said the cess was meant to finance Pak-Iran and Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipelines and liquefied natural gas projects. The division bench heard that Million Metric British Thermal Units (MMBTU) rates had been increased from Rs13/MMBTU to Rs100/MMBTU. Butt said increased prices would make cheaper cotton of Bangladesh and India more attractive. Butt pointed out that the provincial government had imposed the cess, not the federal government. The court issued notices to Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd, asking them for answers.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2012.