LAHORE: Serving notices on the federal government, the Ministry of Petroleum and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the respondents nominated in yet another petition filed against the increase in the prices of petroleum products to submit their responses in the next hearing of the petition.
The court, however, directed the petitioner to withdraw the name of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who had also been nominated as a respondent in the case.
Justice Shahid Kareem heard the petition filed by Judicial Activism Panel (JAP) through Azhar Siddique.
Speaking on the occasion, the petitioner’s counsel said that there was no mechanism for an increase in petrol prices.
He further said that already a two-member bench of the LHC was seized with the hearing of a petition related to the levy of sales tax on petroleum products. “This matter is of public interest. Therefore, the court is requested to look into it,” Siddique said.
He was of the view the OGRA was not authorised to recommend an increase in prices in the absence of a mechanism. “Therefore, it is prayed to the court to declare government’s decision of hike in petrol prices as null and void,” he requested.
It is pertinent to mention here that the coalition government has increased the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs60 a litre in less than a week.
