LAHORE: A public interest petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court challenging the recent increase in petroleum prices and the government’s decision to determine fuel prices on a daily basis.

The plea was filed by Judicial Activism Panel (JAP) Chairman Azhar Siddique, raising legal objections to the government’s new mechanism for fixing petroleum prices on a daily basis.

It argues that the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) had already revised petroleum prices through a notification issued on July 10, increasing petrol from Rs297.53 to Rs310.71 per litre and high-speed diesel from Rs309.50 to Rs323.30 per litre with effect from July 11. However, it says, a second notification issued just a week later further raised petrol by Rs5.44 per litre to Rs316.15 and diesel by Rs31.05 per litre to Rs354.35 for only three days.

The petition argues that the back-to-back revisions indicate a shift towards daily or ultra-short-cycle fuel pricing without any publicly disclosed legal framework, statutory formula or transparent methodology.

It contends that the government’s pricing mechanism violates various articles of the Constitution by imposing arbitrary financial burdens on citizens through executive decisions lacking parliamentary oversight.

It submits that petroleum products are essential to transport, agriculture, electricity generation and industrial production and abrupt fuel price increases inevitably trigger inflation, placing an unbearable burden on consumers, farmers, transporters, traders and small businesses.

The plea also alleges that, under the guise of fuel price revisions, the government has substantially increased the Petroleum Development Levy and Climate Support Levy without disclosing key pricing components.

Referring to reports published by several national media outlets, the petition maintains that the government’s move towards daily or short-term pricing had generated widespread public concern over the legality and fairness of the existing petroleum pricing regime.

The JAP asked the court to suspend the July 17 notification and direct the government to discontinue ad-hoc one-day and three-day price revisions.

It also asked the court to order the government to disclose the complete pricing formula and statutory basis for fuel price calculations.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2026