KARACHI: A divisional bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) comprising Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan on Tuesday suspended interim orders passed by a single judge of SHC against OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority).
Salman Akram Raja appearing for the appellant OGRA submitted that the order was passed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar of SHC after half hearing in open court and half in ‘Chambers’. In Chamber hearing Head of Legal Department of OGRA was not present but was outside.
The appellant was ordered to review the tariff of natural gas or to face contempt proceedings as well as imprisonment in case of failure. The order was passed ex-parte, he submitted adding that since three years defendant/respondent Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) is obtaining ad-interim orders at the back of the appellant.
The counsel for the respondent SSGC at the outset raised the issue of maintainability of the appeal. The counsel for appellant referred to the section 12, sub section 2 of the OGRA Ordinance 2002. He said that OGRA is a regulatory authority which has a mandate to determine the tariff of the natural after due deliberation and procedure involving all stake holders including the consumers. He said that SHC has a Statutory Judicial Review.
He submitted that the HC can only remand the case to OGRA for redetermination of the tariff if there is any error of law or facts but HC cannot issue direction of fixing a particular tariff. He said that respondents/defendants moved Civil Miscellaneous Applications and later JMs while under the law they should have challenged the tariff determination separately. The tariff as demanded by the respondents if allowed would burden the common consumer heavily, he said.
The bench then asked him to tell the extent of ‘burden’ he is referring to, at which Salman Akram Raja said that it was about rupees 40 billions to be recovered from the consumers. The bench later suspended the impugned ad-interim order of the single judge.