LAHORE: A special court (central) on Tuesday extended the pre-arrest bail of a former chairperson of the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Uzma Adil, and others in the prices scam involving oil marketing companies, being investigated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The suspects appeared before the court of Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan, who after hearing both sides, extended their bail till Jan 29 and directed the prosecution to file a complete challan.

The FIA alleged that the suspects were involved in billion of rupees fraud committed through price fluctuation and hoarding of petroleum products, also creating an artificial shortage in the market.

The agency also accused the owners of OMCs of laundering the money accumulated through fraud in the prices.

The FIA had initiated the inquiry into the scam on the direction of the Lahore High Court.

The court had directed the government to release the report of a commission on the artificial shortage of petroleum products immediately.

The government had (on July 28, 2020) constituted the commission, which conducted the probe while taking all stakeholders on board.

Petitions by the ex-head of Ogra and other suspects are also pending before the high court against the FIA proceedings.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2022