A private citizen has approached the Federal Constitution Court (FCC), seeking relief against the recent increase in petrol and diesel prices, it emerged on Friday.
The government on Thursday raised petrol and diesel prices while simultaneously extending fuel subsidies for motorcyclists and the transport sector, seeking to cushion the impact of rising global oil costs on vulnerable consumers.
Moved under Article 175(E) of the Constitution, the petitioner, Advocate Zulfikar Ahmed Bhutta, called on the court to direct the government to withdraw the recent price hike in the petroleum products.
The petition requested that directions be issued to the government to provide petrol and diesel at the rate of Rs200 per litre. It said that the government should also ensure the import of petroleum products from Iran through all available sources, including pipelines, on an urgent basis.
The petition also contended that the government should request Middle East countries to provide petroleum products on special concessional prices because of the “services being provided by Pakistan in relation to defence”.
It said that Pakistan’s neighbouring countries imported petroleum products from the same sources but sold fuel at less than half the price being charged in the country.
The petition argued that the recent price hike was unjustified and constitutes “exploitation of citizens” under the guise of the US-Iran war.
Citing calculations from Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik, a former financial adviser, the petition noted that Pakistan consumed roughly 240,000 barrels (38 million litres) of petrol per day. A Rs55 increase alone generates approximately Rs 2.1 billion daily over Rs63 billion monthly. By including diesel revenues, the total extraction may exceed Rs 120 billion per month, it said.
The petition said that the US government announced withdrawal of sanctions on purchasing petrol/diesel from Iran in early April, but Pakistan had failed to arrange imports from the nrighbouring country, which could have provided fuel at less than Rs150 per litre.
The petition argued that, though the government maintained that the rice hike was unavoidable due to global crude oil markets, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions, and the regional conflict, these were mere “smoke screens” to allegedly conceal wasteful government expenditures, including salary hikes for judges and ministers, and tax policies that burden common citizens.