The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a notice to K-Electric (KE) chief Tayyab Tareen on Wednesday in a contempt of court case pertaining to unannounced loadshedding by the power supply company.

Petitioner Iqbal Kazmi told the court that the 8 to 12-hour-long unannounced loadshedding had troubled the citizens of Karachi.

Residents of the metropolis have fallen victim to unprecedented and sporadic power cuts as KE and the Sui Southern Gas Company engage in a war of words over a low supply of gas to the electricity provider which has impeded the provision of electricity to consumers.

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Kazmi in his petition said that the power supply company was bound to publish loadshedding timings in a newspaper. He pointed out that there had been numerous court decisions on the issue of unannounced loadshedding and that the Supreme Court had even stopped KE from engaging in this practice.

Despite court decisions, however, the power supply company was not taking steps to improve its performance, the petitioner claimed.

Therefore, there should be indiscriminate contempt proceedings against Tareen and others responsible, Kazmi said in the petition.

The court issued a notice to the KE chief executive officer and adjourned the hearing of the case until May 24.