ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: The Supreme Court, hearing two identical petitions challenging the oil pricing mechanism on Thursday, asked a petitioner to submit an amended petition in two weeks.
The petitioner had called for summoning chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue M. Abdullah Yousaf and Secretary Finance Ahmed Waqar in the case.
A seven-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice M. Javed Buttar and Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed had taken up petitions filed by PPP Senator Rukhsana Zuberi and PML-N Secretary General Zafar Iqbal Zafar Jhagra against the pricing mechanism.
Senator Zuberi told the court that she had moved an application, requesting the court to issue notices to the CBR chairman and secretary finance by making them parties in the case.
However, the court directed her to submit an amended petition by making the two top government officials appear as respondents.
Senator Zuberi, a member of the Senate’s sub-committee on oil price mechanism, is seeking to penalise different oil companies for overcharging to the tune of Rs160 billion, which according to her had increased to Rs400 billion now. She suggests that the federal government should consult the industry, public representatives and consumers when fixing fuel prices, especially in the absence of a fixed pricing formula.
During the hearing, the court also asked the lawyer representing PML-N’s secretary-general Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry to disregard an inquiry conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) about the oil pricing scam.“The NAB will submit a report and retract the next day,” the court observed.
The PML-N has sought a reduction in what it terms the artificial prices of petroleum products and has requested to pass an order requiring return of the profit earned by oil companies and extra duties levied by the government from July 2001 till the petition is pending.
