SC adjourns POL price hike case until 20th on govt’s request
2009-08-12
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: A two-member bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned until August 20 the hearing of petitions against the hike in petroleum prices and overcharging by the government on prices of various petroleum products.
The bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja adjourned the hearing at the request of Attorney General Latif Khosa, who sought more time to file a reply on the report presented by the judicial commission on the rising oil prices in the country.
The commission’s report had suggested just, fair and proper cuts in petroleum prices. PPP Senator Rukhsana Zuberi and PML-N Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra had filed the petitions against the price hike and price-fixing mechanism of petroleum products.
The counsel for oil-marketing companies informed the court that he had already submitted a reply on the commission’s report. The petitioners’ counsel said the recent increase in petroleum prices was not justified. They said consumers had rejected the recent hike in oil prices, adding that the hike would further aggravate economic problems and inflation in the country.
