ISLAMABAD, Feb 21: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed petitioners, who had challenged the oil price fixing mechanism, to file amended petitions, making the ministry of finance and the Central Board of Revenue respondents.

The case was adjourned and the date for next hearing will be fixed later.

Identical petitions, challenging oil pricing formula and the role of the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), had been filed by Syed Iqbal Haider , ARD’s Secretary-General Zafar Iqbal Jhagra and Senator Rukhsana Zuberi.

The court observed that the petitioners had raised issues which required the CBR and the finance ministry to be a party in the matter and allowed the petitioners to file amended petitions.

The bench is headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprises Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.

Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan represented the federation. Khalid Anwar appeared before the court as lawyer for various oil refineries.

Ikram Chaudhry appeared on behalf of Zafar Iqbal Jhagra and said the oil companies had made billions of rupees because of the questionable oil pricing formula.

He said NAB should be directed to take action against everyone involved in the oil pricing scam.

He said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had observed on a complaint filed by experts that it was a strong case of ‘mega corruption’, and a good case could be developed if more details were acquired.

He said the complaint had questioned the perks and allowances obtained by the corporate heads of the National Refinery Limited (NRL) and the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and causing the common man to suffer a loss of Rs29.71 billion by fraudulently increasing the prices of petroleum products.

Responding to a question raised by the bench regarding the role of the Oil Companies Advisory Committee, the attorney-general said that the federal government had already issued a notification on March 15, 2006, withdrawing the OCAC’s powers to determine oil prices and delegated the same to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

The court restored Iqbal Haider’s petition which had been dismissed on Jan 22 for non-prosecution.