ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday reserved its judgment on petitions against the suspension of gas supply to the CNG stations.

The verdict is likely to be announced by February 6.

The government on December 2 stopped the supply of gas to the CNG stations in the Potohar region for three months citing shortage due to the cold weather.

Hearing the petitions of 77 CNG station owners on December 20, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui directed the federal government to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to the filling stations at least three days a week till the announcement of a final order on the matter.

The CNG station owners in their petitions said the government had suspended the supply to their stations without any notice.

They said the CNG stations had already been under severe financial crunch and the three months gas closure had worsen their problems. It was impossible for them to meet their expenses and pay salaries to the staff.

The closure of the gas supply to the CNG sector for the three months would also create unemployment, they added.

However, the federal government and the SNGPL informed the court that under the Natural Gas Allocation and Management Policy 2005, domestic consumers were the top priority in the supply of gas.

After the domestic consumers, commercial sector, fertilizer and captive power sector were on the priority while the CNG sector was the bottom.

The SNGPL said it was getting 1.6 billions cubic feet per day (bcfd) per day against the total requirement of 2.8 bcfd for the entire region.

The total requirement by the domestic consumers in the twin cities was 100 mmcfd in the summer and 280 mmcfd in the winter.

The statistics showed that the total requirement of the domestic consumers along with the CNG sector was 400 mmcfd.

During the current winter season, SNGPL received 220 mmcfd for the twin cities against the total requirement of 400 mmcfd.

Hafeezullah advocate, the counsel for the SNGPL, told the court that under the contract the SNGPL had signed with the CNG station owners, the company had the right to reduce, curtail or even suspend the supply of natural gas to the filling stations subject to the availability of gas.

He recalled that IHC Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan in December 2011 had dismissed similar petitions filed by the CNG dealers.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) in 2011 and in January 2014 also rejected the petitions of the CNG station owners against the government decision of suspending supply during the extreme shortage of gas, he added.

He, however, assured the court that the supply of gas to the CNG stations would resume by the end of the winter.