KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered on Tuesday the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to proceed with legal action against K-Electric for carrying out unannounced load shedding. K-Electric is Karachi’s sole power utility provider.
The SHC also ordered that K-Electric utility should also follow Nepra’s orders.
On January 22, 2016, Nepra had made area-wise load shedding illegal yet load shedding was continuing in Karachi.
The SHC bench had reserved its verdict after Monday’s proceedings on a petition filed by social activist Karamat Ali on unannounced load shedding by the power utility.
On Monday, the petitioner’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqui, stated than an entire area must not suffer from non-provision of electricity if one person defaults on paying the bills. He added that even if it is the matter of theft, the person committing the crime should bear the brunt of the power cuts, not those in the adjoining houses.
Officials of the power utility were also present at the hearing.
In 2014, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the power utility to not cut-off power supply during Ramazan, the lawyer maintained. But regardless, 80% of the areas in Karachi were in the dark during sehri on the first day of Ramazan this year.
The court had reserved its decision stating that the verdict would be announced later.
On May 24, SHC Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, heading the bench, had come down hard on the city’s sole power utility, saying they will not sit idle while unannounced load shedding continues to cause distress to residents.
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