SC seeks OGRA report over 17 CNG stations within radius of 3 km in Gujranwala

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought report from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) over setting up of 17 CNG stations within the radius of only three kilometers in Gujranwala district.

The SC also took strict notice of a CNG station in Lahore’s JoharTown which was set up adjacent to a school building ignoring all rules and regulations.

A three-member SC bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, resumed the hearing into a suo motu case regarding illegal award of CNG licences on a large scale by the previous regime.

The bench noticed that there was a cluster of CNG stations on the GT Road even though there was a severe shortage of gas in the country.

The chief justice said, “It seems as if there are no rules and regulations for establishing CNG stations in the country.”

During the course of the proceedings, OGRA Chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan categorically stated that after taking charge in February last year, he had not issued even a single licence for establishing a CNG station.

The CJP questioned the OGAR chairman about the total number of CNG stations in the country, upon which he was informed that currently there were 3,395 functional CNG stations throughout the country.

“Explaining the CNG programme, the OGRA chairman said then government had started a programme in 2001 to promote CNG in the country as there was one million cubic feet of extra gas available daily at that time. “Therefore, the government at that time had decided to convert CNG stations to eliminate pollution and making Pakistan green,” he added.

Khan further said the programme continued from 2001 to 2008 during which licences were granted to many people.

The CJP remarked that issuance of hundreds of thousands of licences resulted in abundance of CNG stations on the GT Road and even in some residential areas, where many stations were set up in violation of rules.

The CJP expressed satisfaction over the role of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to uncover the facts, however, he said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had not come up to the court’s expectations.

Later, the bench sought a report from OGRA regarding the 17 CNG stations within a radius of three kilometers and a station adjacent to a school building and adjourned further hearing until July 5.