KARACHI, June 8: The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) is planning to file a petition in the Sindh High Court against the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Liaquat Jatoi, and KESC officials for their failure to control excessive load-shedding.

KBA General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi told Dawn that Barrister Abid Zuberi would file the petition as his counsel within a couple of days. The power supply situation was deteriorating by the day and causing great suffering, he said, promising that the officials responsible would have to answer in court.

Referring to Mr Jatoi’s statement that the government could not take steps to counter load-shedding because the KESC had been privatised, Mr Qureshi said that this was a “lame excuse” and the minister, secretary and chairman of Wapda were as much to blame as KESC officials.

He added that if excessive load-shedding continued, the country’s industries, particularly those based in Karachi, would grind to a halt.

Barrister Zubairi confirmed that he would contest the case on behalf of the complainant, KBA General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi.