The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and the chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) for October 17, directing them to appear and explain issues related to illegal appointment of Tauqeer Sadiq. A three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, issued the directive after conducting proceedings on a fortnightly report sought from the National Accountability Bureau in the implementation of its judgement on illegal appointment of the former OGRA chairman. During the course of hearing, NAB Additional Prosecutor General Fauzee Ahmed apprised the bench that they were making all out efforts to arrest the former OGRA chief. He said they had requested the Islamabad IG to arrest him after reports suggested that he had been hiding there. Waqas, an investigation officer, submitted a report saying they had identified Sadiq’s two farmlands in Lahore. About embezzlement in the CNG sector, he said they had recovered Rs 30 million so far. To a bench’s query, he said Rs 9 million was charged for grant of a fake CNG licence by the network operated upon by Sadiq. About the total loss caused to the national exchequer, he said it stood around Rs 44 billion. He also submitted a detail report of 100 share holders of the ring operated to mint money out of this embezzlement. Justice Khawaja said the matter worsened with the appointment of Sadiq and tariff for consumers witnessed a surge for which people were forced to pay. He told NAB officials that it was their duty to prosecute the officials who had illegally appointed him.
