QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court issued show-cause notices to the provincial government on Wednesday over frequent loadshedding by the Quetta Electricity Corporation (QESCO).

A two-member bench of the BHC, comprising Chief Justice Rozi Khan Breach and Justice Sardar Ahmed Halimi, issued the notices to the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary during the hearing of a petition over loadshedding across the province.

The constitutional petition was filed by Rajab Khan Buleidi, who is vice chairman of the Balochistan Bar Council, against the Chief Executive Officer of QESCO and others.

The Additional Attorney General submitted written replies on behalf of the Chief Secretary, the CM’s Principal Secretary, and the Secretary for Energy.

But the court found these replies unsatisfactory, observing that the officials concerned had merely tried to shift the blame onto National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). The petitioner’s counsel dismissed the Qesco report as nothing more than a “manipulation of figures” and “disconnected from the ground reality”.

The next hearing is scheduled for Oct 28.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2025