ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: Contrary to its public stand on oil prices, the government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it was reviewing the price.

A five-member bench has taken up identical petitions challenging the oil pricing mechanism filed by chairman of the Awami Himayat Tehrik Pakistan Maulvi Iqbal Haider, PPP Senator Rukhsana Zuberi and PML-N Secretary-General Zafar Iqbal Jhagra.

At the outset, Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan requested the court for more time, stating the federal government was “looking into the prices of petroleum products” but argued that local oil prices was dependant on international market situation. He rejected the contention that the government was helping oil refineries at the cost of people and said a detailed report would soon be submitted before the court. The bench adjourned the hearing till the third week of January with an observation that it would also consider the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) findings on profits earned by refineries and oil marketing companies at some appropriate time.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also observed that oil prices could be reduced if the government decreased duties or taxes on these products, adding that he had read somewhere that 88 paisas were being charged for every litre of oil when the cess should be applied exclusively on the aircraft fuel.

However, petitioner Rukhsana Zuberi corrected the court by stating that the duty had since been withdrawn but argued that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority was using the same pricing formula used by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee.

She accused oil marketing companies of overcharging Rs5 billion a day on petroleum products and said the oil produced by the local refineries contained one per cent of sulphur, which was environmentally-hazardous while the imported oil contained only 0.25 to 0.5 per cent of sulphur.

Representing refineries, Khalid Anwar argued that the petitions had become infructous since the grievance had now been addressed by empowering the Ogra to fix the prices.

Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, lawyer for Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, argued that domestic oil prices had surged despite the fact that the oil price in international market had gone down to $58 per barrel from $78.

Senator Rukhsana Zuberi requested the court to order forfeiture of the amount overcharged by different oil companies, amounting to Rs160 billion. She also sought a court order against the federal government to undertake functions of pricing in consultation with the industry, public representatives and consumers, especially in absence of a fixed pricing formula.

Iqbal Haider had sought a declaration from the apex court that Section 2 (4b) of the Petroleum Products (Petroleum Development Levy) Ordinance 1961 was violative of Articles 90 (exercise of executive authority of the federation), 8 (laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights to be void) and 9 (security of person) of the Constitution.