SC seeks CNG stations’ audit reports, tariff details

Justice Khwaja says court only following law, was unconcerned with closure of CNG stations.

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting a plea by station owners for increasing CNG prices, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought details pertaining to the stations’ tariff accounts.

A two-judge bench, comprising justices Jawad S Khawaja and Khilji Arif Hussain, also asked the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to furnish details regarding CNG licences along with audit reports. Prior to Wednesday’s proceedings, the case was being heard by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

During the proceedings, counsel for the CNG Association Abdul Hafeez Pirzada maintained that the court did not have the authority to decide CNG prices, adding that the court’s intervention had resulted in several stations going out of business.



In response, Justice Khawaja termed the association a ‘cartel’. He asserted that the court was only following the law and was unconcerned with the closure of CNG stations.

Meanwhile, the court questioned Ogra’s counsel regarding the number of applications submitted for CNG station licences along with the number of requests accepted and rejected. The bench also ordered Ogra to submit details of the CNG stations’ tariff and their audit reports.



The court adjourned the case until Thursday (today), when it will also examine the authority’s new pricing formula. CNG Association Chairman Ghayyas Paracha has said dealers will accept the court’s decision regarding the pricing formula.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2012.