{"id":68695,"date":"2024-03-08T03:20:07","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T03:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/shc-stays-govts-gas-tariff-hike-order-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-03-08T03:20:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T03:20:07","slug":"shc-stays-govts-gas-tariff-hike-order-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/shc-stays-govts-gas-tariff-hike-order-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"SHC stays govt\u2019s gas tariff hike order | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nKARACHI:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The provincial high court in Sindh has stayed the federal government\u2019s decision to increase gas prices for industrial units. It has also ordered the federation, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to submit written arguments in support of the hike.<\/p>\n

The hearing of petitions filed by over 400 companies against the caretaker government\u2019s notifications to increase gas tariffs for industries resumed before a single-member bench of Justice Mahmood A Khan on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The petitioners’ lawyer argued that according to the law, the province which produces a resource has the primary right to use it. He said Sindh produces the most gas in the country.<\/p>\n

He noted that the caretaker government was not entitled to increase gas prices. \u201cA caretaker government is supposed to handle day-to-day affairs. It cannot make decisions on major policy matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal government\u2019s counsel stated that the caretaker government increased gas prices to boost revenue in compliance with a condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n

Justice Khan inquired from the counsel as to what was the agreement between the government and the IMF. He noted that the copy presented in court was not an agreement but a press release issued by the Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the press release, the IMF\u2019s condition was related just to increase in revenue, and it was the caretaker government’s own recommendation to raise gas prices and taxes,” he said.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0\u2018Govt must reconsider gas tariff hike\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ogra\u2019s lawyer argued that the petitioners were part of the decision-making process for the price hike while half of them were part of the government and were aware of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court does not have the authority to intervene in policy matters,\u201d he contended.<\/p>\n

The judge remarked that these are old discussions and that the court will act according to the law.<\/p>\n

Later, the SHC suspended the federal government\u2019s notifications of November 8 and December 14, 2023 regarding increases in gas prices for industries.<\/p>\n

The court also directed companies to deposit the additional amount with the court\u2019s nazir while rejecting the federal government\u2019s request for allowing it to collect the money.<\/p>\n

It also ordered the federal government, OGRA, SSGC, and others to provide written arguments by March 14. A nazir is court official who serves processes, acts as treasurer, and performs other similar duties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KARACHI: The provincial high court in Sindh has stayed the federal government\u2019s decision to increase gas prices for industrial units. It has also ordered the federation, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to submit written arguments in support of the hike. The hearing of petitions filed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/753511-SHC-1409004330\/753511-SHC-1409004330.JPG","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t