ISLAMABAD: The capital administration on Monday reduced the weight of Roti from 120 grams to 100 grams, but not its price.

The deputy commissioner said after the court order, the weight of Roti had been reduced to 100 grams from 120 grams, but it would be priced at Rs16 as per the notification issued last month.

However, the weight and rate of Naan will remain the same as notified earlier, which was Rs20 for 120 grams.

An official of the district administration said during a meeting with the Capital Naanbai Association, he had raised the point that in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a Rs16 Roti weighed 100 grams. As the point was found valid, the weight of Roti was revised and fixed at 100 grams.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed the petition filed against reduction in Roti and Naan prices after the district administration revised the notification.

IHC Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri dismissed the petition after the additional deputy commissioner general (ADCG) Islamabad informed the court that an earlier notification regarding the prices of 120 grams of Roti and Naan, which were Rs16 and Rs20, respectively, had been withdrawn and a revised notification issued accordingly.

He said the weight of Roti had been reduced to 100 grams but its price would remain unchanged. The court observed that since the notification challenged by the petitioner had been withdrawn, therefore, the petition had become infructuous.

The petitioner had challenged the legality of the government notification whereby the maximum price of Roti and Naan had been slashed by over 36pc. After hearing the preliminary arguments, the court admitted the petition for hearing and summoned the ICT administration to appear before it within 24 hours.

As per details, in mid-April the Punjab government issued a notification, which slashed the price of Roti.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration also issued a notification setting the price of Roti and Naan at Rs16 and Rs20, respectively for a standard serving size of 120 grams. Just four months ago the price was fixed at Rs25 and Rs30 respectively.

This decision had been challenged by the Capital Naanbai Association, which represents over 3,000 Tandoors of Islamabad. The petitioners were represented by Barrister Umer Ijaz Gilani.

The counsel for the petitioner contended that without legal authority, the district magistrate had issued notification on April 15 while exercising powers under Section 3 of the Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act, 1977.

Barrister Gilani pointed out that Section 3 of the Act only authorised the federal government to issue such notification, and urged the court to set aside the notification in the matter on the grounds that an incompetent authority had issued this notification.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024