ISLAMABAD – A four-member Supreme Court bench Friday accepted for regular hearing a petition against implementation agreement between the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) and Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL) on the allotment of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) quota. The petition has been filed by Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) parliamentarians Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Barjees Tahir and Abid Sher Ali.
The bench comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, issued notices to the signatories of the implementation agreement and directed the secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources to appear before the court along with record of the agreement. The court also decided to hear the plea on day to day basis from Feb 10.
Khawaja Asif, who appeared in person, told the court that the SSGCL allotted LPG quota in violation of rules and in a very non-transparent manner. He said according to the Pakistan Contract Act, LPG extraction contract signed between the two entities could be declared null and void at any time, as it was based on mala fide intentions. He said some LPG companies had formed a consortium named as JJVL only to abuse the market.
He said government has given guarantee to JJVL for extension in agreement beyond 2011. He pleaded the court to order SSGCL not to renew the license of JJVL. After hearing his contentions, the court accepted the plea for regular hearing and issued notices to the concerned parties. Earlier on Feb 2, the National Assembly Standing Committee had directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to provide legal opinion within 10 days on further continuation of the agreement between SSGCL and JJVL, adding that a final decision about renewal of the contract would be made in the next meeting after hearing all the stakeholders.
The meeting was told that the production of LPG per day from Badin Extraction Plant had been reduced from 480 to 200 Ton. The government should bring the LPG distributors into regulatory framework, which would, resultantly ensure stability and reduce prices, the committee suggested.
