Contempt proceedings: DG petroleum tenders apology

SC tells the official to avoid such a mistake in the future.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court accepted on Wednesday the unconditional apology of the director-general of petroleum, withdrawing the show-cause notice issued to him on Tuesday for using contemptuous language regarding pending litigations.

Initially, the court was not satisfied with the reply to the show-cause notice submitted by Director-General Petroleum Sher Muhammad Khan.

Later, when he tendered unconditional apology, the court withdrew the notice.

The court, however, directed the DG petroleum to avoid the recurrence of such mistakes in the future.

Former minister for petroleum Usman Aminuddin also appeared before the court and contended that he had opposed the sale of British Petroleum assets much below the market rate in 2002.

He said that at that time, he had termed the decision against national interest, adding that he had opposed this decision and suggested not to sell the assets.

Secretary Petroleum Imtiaz Qazi sought more time to submit a detailed report covering all aspects of the issue.

The court accepted his plea and directed him to explain when the process of repurchasing of assets was initiated and how many meetings were convened in this regard, what was the outcome of these meetings, and why and on what basis the assets are being repurchased.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing till January 4.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2010.