LAHORE – Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Monday admitted for hearing an earlier-filed petition challenging less gas supply to Punjab and directed the petitioner to come on the case’s next hearing with decision of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) on gas quota for Punjab. The court adjourned the petition’s hearing until February 17 after hearing arguments of petitioner Noshab A Khan.
Earlier, the petitioner sought early hearing of the main petition but the judge, keeping in view importance of the matter as stakes of the most populous province were involved, admitted the main petition for hearing and directed the petitioner’s counsel to present his arguments. The petitioner shed light on sufferings Punjab is facing both on commercial and domestic sides on account of gas shortage and alleged that the federal government was discriminating against Punjab. The petitioner’s counsel said that contrary to the decision taken at the CCI meeting, Punjab is not being given its due share of gas, as a consequence of which, Punjab is on the losing end both in terms of industrial and domestic consumption.
Noshab alleged that nearly 70 percent of Punjab’s industry is suffering due to gas shortage and CNG stations are closed due to which motorists are facing problems in travelling. He said that nearly nine million workers in Punjab are affected by gas shortage while domestic consumers have taken to the streets to protest against gas load shedding. The petitioner alleged that Punjab’s revenue has fallen due to gas load shedding and the public is also suffering in this regard. Noshab requested the court to pay attention towards this issue and direct the federal government to provide equal gas quota to Punjab, as there was no gas shortage in other provinces.
