Surcharges in electricity bills: PHC says interim orders sans expiry date

Decides stay orders valid until decision is reached in original case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court declared interim orders, passed by any constitutional court, valid till the main (constitutional) petition is decided.

The decision was issued during the hearing of over five hundred petitions filed by industrial units and domestic consumers.

The federal government had earlier petitioned to vacate the stay order given to these units and consumers, so it could ask them to pay surcharges. These units and consumers challenged the collection of surcharges by federal government on debt, Neelum Jehlum power-supply project, repair and equalisation, as they are not included in the monthly electricity bills in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

“In cases where the main constitutional petition is not decided upon within the six-month period, the interim order passed during that time would remain in force till its revocation or in the decision of the main writ petitions,” said the decision delivered by Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Irshad Qaiser on Thursday.

LHC’s verdict

The notification issued by Ministry of Water and Power on collection of surcharges was challenged before PHC and Lahore High Court (LHC), which granted interim relief through a stay order. The order provided relief to industrialists and domestic consumers. The LHC decided the matter on May 29.

However, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the federal government and suspended LHC’s decision, allowing the federal government to collect the surcharges. The federal government then filed several applications in the high court to vacate the interim order regarding the three surcharges.

PHC’s verdict

On January 23, a division of PHC, much like LHC, stayed the collection of these surcharges from the domestic and industrial units of K-P in the monthly bills.

During the hearing, Qazi Ghulam Dastagir, counsel for Khazana Sugar Mills, Peshawar, and others, told the court the three surcharges are not included in the monthly bills.

Dastagir said the federal government imposed two additional surcharges–tariff rationalisation and financial cost–which are also stayed. He requested the court to keep the stay enacted till the decision of the main petitions is issued. Deputy Attorney General Kifayatullah Khan told the court as the apex court has suspended the order of the LHC, PHC is also requested to vacate the interim order that had stayed the collection of these surcharges.

The federal government had challenged LHC’s decision in front of apex court, which ruled in favour of the federal government and suspended the stay order LHC had issued on June 9. However, the counsel quoted several amendments of Article 199, sub article 4 (a), introduced after the 18th Constitutional amendment made in 2010. According to the amendment, if a petition had not been decided upon by the courts, the stay order would remain valid until a decision is issued.

The result

“The grant of leave to appeal by the apex court cannot be the sole ground for revoking the interim order passed by a court in a pending case. Each case has to be decided on its own merits” said the order.

The court then vacated the interim order passed for staying the recovery of levy under its notification.

“The recovery of the stayed amount shall be decided at the time of final decision of the main writ petitions,” the order said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2015.