Gas theft: NAB to continue probe into illegal LPG conversion

Court summons PESCO chief over prolonged power outages across the province.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to continue probing the pilferage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The court also directed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastageer to immediately contact the provincial government and release royalty, adding funds for social development projects be released after experts have reported on identified projects.



A division bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qaiser Rashid issued the orders while hearing a suo motu notice taken in May 2012. The notice was taken following reports stating influential people were involved in illegal conversion of natural gas to LPG and then selling it in the open market. The court later tasked NAB with probing these reports.

NAB investigation expert Colonel Hussain Afridi said a total loss of Rs1.02 billion had been reportedly incurred by the national treasury. He claimed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had completely failed to follow its own rules.

Afridi requested the court to allow the probe to be conducted according to NAB’s rules so that those involved in the scam could be brought before the courts. The request was accepted and NAB was ordered to continue probing the scam.



Fine Gas Company Limited General Manager Colonel Khalid informed the bench his company had been awarded an LPG contract by Ogra in 2008, but since NAB launched its probe, the process of supplying gas to the company had slowed down. Khalid maintained his company had nothing to do with the scam.

State counsel Shumail Butt informed the court the K-P chief secretary was yet to release royalty funds despite orders, upon which the bench directed Dastageer to contact the federal government immediately. Social development projects must be approved after a report by experts, observed the bench.

Meanwhile, the court took notice of unscheduled power outages and summoned the chief executive of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) to appear and submit a reply on prolonged load-shedding.

The bench observed 15,000 megawatts was the total requirement of electricity. It added with 9,000 megawatts being supplied, a 35% shortage was recorded which could be controlled by 6 to 7-hour long load-shedding shifts. But power outages are being conducted for up to 20 hours a day, said the bench.

The court ordered Pesco Chief Executive Brigadier (retd) Tariq Sadozai to appear in person and inform the court how much electricity was required to meet Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s needs.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2013.