Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Monday sought a report on comparative data of international and domestic petroleum prices from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) by June 19 on a petition seeking details of taxes levied on the petroleum products. The order was passed on a petition filed by Muhammad & Ahmad, a public interest litigation company, through its counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique. Earlier, OGRA’s counsel appeared before the court and said OGRA determined oil prices on directives of the federal government whereas it did not have the authority to fix petroleum prices. The chief justice adjourning the matter till June 19 sought a report from OGRA.
The petitioner through his petition prayed that the government should be directed to give details about the method of determination for revising prices of petroleum products vis-à-vis the cost of production and cost of supply including charging of different levies, duties and taxes and further disbursement of above collections to different heads. He further prayed that OGRA be directed to supply the audited accounts of all respondents connected with the production and supply of petroleum products specifying category-wise details with complete profit and loss accounts through certified audited accounts.
