A two-member bench comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain heard the case pertaining to the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Justice Jawwad S Khawaja remarked that other aspects related to CNG pricing will be evaluated before any such decision is taken. Justice Khawaja said that a new price formula devised by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) will be reviewed in the next hearing. The judge further said the court will follow the law, no matter what happens to the CNG stations.
The APCNGA counsel told the court that around 3,000 CNG stations have closed down adding that it was not court's duty to determine prices and that the government is responsible for pricing. APCNGA Chairman Ghias Paracha apprised the court that the association will abide by the court's decision. Salman Akram Raja, counsel for OGRA, presented his arguments before the bench.
The court sought records pertaining to the tariff accounts of 3395 CNG stations, pointing out the existence of filling stations operating without licenses. The court inquired the number of requests the OGRA had received for CNG stations licenses, followed by the number of licenses issued by the regulatory authority. The court continued to inquire about the number of license requests rejected by OGRA and the number of licenses `pocketed' by station owners.
Justice Khawaja termed the CNG association as a cartel, adding that, the government appeared to oblige to the demands made by the so-called cartel. He further said that the court was not concerned with whether or not the cabinet had the issue of CNG pricing formula on its agenda and that the court and the parliament had their own respective powers.
The Ogra's counsel informed the court that the new pricing was formulated after including the input from public hearings and stakeholders. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said the matter was in the courts and a section of society was being severely affected by it, adding that, the Ministry of Petroleum should attend to the issue for the sake of public interest.
Dr Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, counsel for APCNGA said that the price of CNG was completely deregulated and that neither the courts nor the Ministry of Petroleum had the authority to decide the price of CNG. The court adjourned hearing till Thursday (today).