KARACHI, Nov 22: The Sindh High Court stayed on Wednesday the Oil and Gas Development Corporation’s plan to privatise its liquefied petroleum gas extraction business on a petition moved by two of its shareholders.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab issued notices to the OGDC, the ministry of petroleum and the Privatisation Commission for December 12 and stayed the impugned plan.

Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate Abdul Hafeez Pirzada earlier said they had challenged the plan to outsource the LPG extraction from the OGDC’s gas fields to the private sector on build-own-and-operate basis. The proposed privatisation was repugnant to the law and the Constitution.

‘Mineral oil and natural gas’ are included in Part-II of the federal legislative list and, therefore, fall within the purview of the Council of Common Interests. The CCI’s powers in respect of the subjects contained in the federal legislative list’s Part-II have been elaborated in the Supreme Court judgment in the Pakistan Steel case.

Besides, the petitioners claimed, the transfer of LPG rights would cause a substantial loss to the corporation’s shareholders.