Apology accepted: PHC recalls contempt of court notices

Despite court’s orders, Nepra issued a notification in September declaring the tariff to be in accordance with the law

PESHAWAR:

Contempt of court notices earlier issued by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to Water and Power Secretary Nargis Sethi and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Chairman Habibullah Khilji were recalled by the court on Wednesday, after both officials offered an unconditional apology.

The decision was taken by a division bench headed by PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and comprising Justice Irshad Qaisar.

The contempt notices had been issued after the two officials failed to defend an electricity tariff that the regulatory authority had been collecting monthly from consumers.

A levy called Fuel Adjustment Charges (FAC) was being collected from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) electricity consumers in their monthly bills. The tariff had been challenged in the PHC in February by around 78 petitioners, including some industrialists.

During the first hearing of the case, the court instructed Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) to refrain from collecting the levy from consumers in K-P and also issued notices to respondents, Sethi and Khilji, to submit their replies.

Despite the court’s orders, Nepra issued a notification in September declaring the tariff to be in accordance with the law. This led another petitioner, Abdul Samad Marwat to challenge Nepra’s notification by terming it contrary to PHC’s orders, upon which the high court served contempt of court notices to the Nepra chairman and water and power secretary.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the bench ordered Pesco and all other companies granted licenses to distribute electricity to submit the relevant tariff details before the court.

In the hearing, the stay order issued earlier against collection of FAC from K-P consumers was extended and the case was adjourned till February 21.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2013.