ISLAMABAD: A petition has been moved in Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday challenging the government’s recent notification to transfer the administrative control of five autonomous and independent regulatory authorities to various ministries and divisions. The petition was filed by an activist of Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party Muhammad Nawaz through his counsel Sheikh Ahsanuddin Advocate seeking to declare the government’s move as null and void. The decision will leave millions of CNG users at the mercy of CNG stations and would allow the owners of CNG station to fix the prices of gas of their own accord rather than by OGRA. It may be mentioned here that on 19 December 2016, the government issued a notification in this regard. According to the notification, the administrative control of OGRA was shifted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, PTA and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) to Information Technology and Telecom Division, NEPRA to Water and Power Division, and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA)’s control had been transferred to Finance Division. The petitioner had contended in his plea that the above bodies were established to promote fair competition and investment in their respective fields and to protect public interest and the rights of consumers. He stated that once having control of OGRA, the government has also allowed the compressed natural gas stations (CNGs) to fix their own prices rather than the fixation of selling prices by regulatory body. It has left the ordinary consumer and millions of CNG users at the mercy of big business concerns, multinational companies and CNG station owners. This transfer notification has created a great deal of unrest and anxiety in different sections of the society and people belonging to all walks of life. The petitioner prayed to the court to declare the decision of transferring of administrative control of five regulatory bodies and notification while also allowing CNG retailers to fix their selling price rather than OGRA as unconstitutional and unlawful. Principal Secretary of Prime Minister, Secretary Cabinet Division, Secretary Ministry of Water and Power, Secretary MoIT, Finance Division, Chairman OGRA, Chairman NEPRA, Chairman PTA and Chairman FBA had been nominated as respondents.