A petition has been moved in the LHC for court directions to the government to inform the nation about the complete cost of production and supply of electricity from all production sources, including thermal, coal, gas, furnace oil, and solar.
The petition was filed by Azhar Siddique who pleaded that under article 19-A of the constitution people paying inflated electricity bills had the right to know the production and supply cost for justification of taxes and duties added in the monthly bills. He said that though people were suffering from extended electricity load shedding they were still charged a number of surcharges, such as fuel adjustment duty, fuel price adjustment duty, equalisation surcharge, Neelam Jhelum Surcharge.
He said the whole burden of Line Losses, electricity thievery, wapda corruption and cost of electricity’s purchase from Rented Power Projects (RPPs) and IPPs had been shifted to the masses through all sorts of uncalled-for surcharges. Being stakeholders the consumers, including the petitioner, should be informed regarding the actual cost of power generation, from all its sources like thermal, coal, gas, furnace oil, and solar, he said.
He said the government, through WAPDA was looting the public. He further prayed that audited accounts of all Respondents connected with the production and supply of the electricity may be submitted in court with category-wise details of profit and loss accounts.
NOTICES ISSUED TO OGRA AND SNGPL: Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Abdul Waheed Khan has issued notices to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Sui-Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) on a petition against sending a Rs 88,280 monthly gas bill to a poor man running a bicycle puncture shop and for disconnecting the gas meter on non-payment of bills.
The judge admitted for regular hearing the petition filed by Ijaz Ahmed, resident of district Hafizabad. The petitioner counsel Naveed Shabbir said his client, owner of a bicycle puncture shop in Hafizabad had been victimised by a CNGPL meter reader.
He said Meter Reader Sajid demanded illegal monetary gratification from his client – upon his client’s refusal Sajid sent a bill of Rs 88,280 to teach a lesson him and disconnected his gas meter on charges of non-payment of bill.
The petitioner has named OGRA chairman, SNGPL managing director and concerned Hafizabad SNGPL Sub-Divisional Officer as respondents. The court, admitting the petition for regular hearing, issued notices to the respondents directing them to file reply on the matter.
ARREST WARRaNTS FOR TWO POLICE OFFICIALS ISSUED: Anti-Corruption Court on Saturday issued arrest warrants for not appearing in court of two police officials Muhammad Ashraf and Karamat Ali, allegedly involved in releasing a drug peddler after accepting a bribe and implicating a man in a narcotics case.
Judge Khalid Rasheed also directed the concerned authorities to confiscate their salaries.
Petitioner Rukhsana Rafeeq, a school teacher, filed the petition contending that Karmat Ali belonged to Cantt CIA Police, while Nawankot Assistant Sub-Inspector Muhammad Ashraf implicated her brother in a forged narcotics case. She implored that her brother was innocent. She added that her brother was an auto-rikshaw driver by profession. She said that allegations levelled by police officers against her brother were utterly false.
She contended that officials had arrested another man in a narcotics case but he was soon released after he bribed the officials. She said police had started investigations after she filed an application in Nawankot Police seeking her brother. It transpired during investigations that both the accused had arrested her brother to implicate him in the narcotics case.