High Court grills government over petrol crisis

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan has observed that oil crisis was sheer bad governance of the federal government.

He remarked that the crisis could not be controlled unless people responsible for it were taken to task. He decided to constitute a commission to investigate the petrol shortage that hit the country during the last month following a sharp decrease in prices.

Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Azam Khan, Atorney General Khalid Javed Khan, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Chairperson Uzma Adil and other federal and provincial officials were present in the court.

At the outset, Chief Justice asked the atorney general whether he discussed the suggestion about a commission on the mater with the National Assembly speaker as desired by the court on the last hearing.

The atorney general said he personally met the speaker and conveyed him the court’s suggestion. He said the speaker resolved to present the suggestion before the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. The chief justice reminded the atorney general that the court had asked him to come up with a clear policy of the government.

Justice Khan called the prime minister’s principal secretary to the rostrum and observed that the reply submited by him was nothing more than gimmickry of words. “The principal secretary to the prime minister is a powerful man as he runs both the government and the establishment. And he does not appear before court even on repeated directions,” the chief justice said.

He observed that apparently the oil “mafia” created shortage of petrol for monetary gains and the government’s decision to increase petrol prices before the scheduled time appeared to have been made to benefit the oil marketing companies.

The atorney suggested the court to constitute a commission to hold an investigation into the crisis, which the chief justice admited and asked him to present names for it.

The chief justice observed that the court would nominate members to the commission if the nominees of the atorney general were not found suitable.

Justice Khan warned the government officials of strict action if anyone found involved in concealing or tampering with the official record.

The CJ observed, “Prima facie all the authorities concerned are suspects in the petrol crisis,” he said and warned the Ogra chairperson not to try to protect the real culprits.