IHC announces decision in favour of filling station owners. PHOTO: FILE
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday declared the government’s move to suspend gas supply to filling stations in the twin cities and Potohar region as illegal.
In a detailed judgment, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui scrapped the government’s gas load management plan to stop supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) pumps in the Potohar region, which includes the twin cities. On December 20, 2013, Justice Siddiqui had temporarily restored gas supply after 77 owners of CNG stations challenged the government’s decision. Earlier this week, the court reserved its judgment after counsels from both sides concluded their arguments.
In an 80-page judgment, the court accepted the petitions and ordered the government to restore gas.
The court observed that the Economic Coordination Committee does not have the authority to decide the closure of CNG and ordered the government to take up the issue with the competent authority — the Council of Common Interests — in 90 days. Former finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh had approved the gas load management plan in which the CNG sector was given low priority.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2014.
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