LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Tuesday allowed four more weeks to a government-made commission to complete its inquiry into the artificial shortage of petrol that hit the country during the months of May and June following a sharp decrease in prices.

Additional Attorney General Ishtiaq A Khan sought time from the court on behalf of the federal government saying the commission would conclude its inquiry within six to eight weeks.

The chief justice allowed a four-week time with a warning to the government that the court will hold its own inquiry if the commission failed to submit its report.

Petitioner Farhat Manzoor Chandio had submitted that there had been an acute shortage of petrol since the government decreased its price as per the international market. He said the oil marketing companies created an artificial shortage of petrol and the government failed to ensure smooth supply of the fuel as people waited for hours in long queues at filling stations.

He said the shortage of petrol caused an overall crisis-like situation in the country.

The petitioner asked the court to order an action against the authorities responsible for the fuel crisis and direct the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to ensure smooth supply of petrol across the country.

In this case, the chief justice had taken an exception to non-appearance of Ogra’s then chairperson Uzma Adil due to fear of Covid-19. The CJ had dismissed her application for adjournment with a cost of Rs100,000 to the Ogra.

At a previous hearing, the chief justice had observed that it was not only the federal government or the federal agencies who showed exemplary slackness, even the authorities at provincial level failed to do what the law had required from them to control the crisis.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2020