Daily Times

A bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC), on Wednesday, summoned responses from the federal government, finance ministry and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) chairman by April 24 in a petition filed over the recent price hike in petroleum products. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Agha Faisal heard the matter and issued notices to the authorities. On April 2, Advocate Maulvi Iqbal Haider had moved a petition in the SHC. He had called the price hike a violation of the constitution and argued that the prices could not be increased without securing approval from the parliament. The government had violated Article 77 and was unjust to the public by exercising their discretionary authority, the petitioner maintained. Earlier, the federal government had increased oil prices by up to Rs 6 per litre on Sunday for April while responding to fluctuations in global oil prices. In a summary moved to the petroleum division on March 29, OGRA had proposed a 10 per cent increase of Rs 11. 17 per litre in the price of high-speed diesel and a 12.8 per cent raise of Rs 11.98 per litre for petrol.