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QUETTA, Nov 05 (APP):Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Wednesday expressed strong displeasure over prolonged gas load shedding, unfair billing and inadequate gas supply in the province and ordered to issue a show cause notice to the top officials of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGCL) for contempt of court as expressing strong displeasure.
The court ruled that the repeated violation of court orders by SSGCL and the discriminatory treatment of the people of the province is a clear violations of Articles 25 and 158 of the Constitution.
A two-member bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice of the High Court of Balochistan, Justice Rozi Khan Bareach and Justice Sardar Ahmed Halimi issued these orders during the hearing of the case of Syed Nazir Ahmed Agha vs Federation of Pakistan.
The court ruled that the report submitted by SSGCL about the “gasified areas” of the province is unsatisfactory, disappointing and contrary to the court order.
According to the court, the company was directed to provide details of gas supply in the tehsils and districts of Balochistan, but an attempt was made to fulfill the responsibility by only mentioning the name in the report.
The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that gas supply is being cut off for more than 13 hours every day in the capital Quetta and SSGCL is trying to cover its financial losses in the name of “repair work”.
The court termed it as blatant discrimination against the public.
A disabled consumer, Nazir Ahmed, presented a copy of a gas bill of Rs 500,000 before the court, to which the court expressed deep surprise.
According to the consumer, he lived in a small two-room house, but the bill is more than his annual income.
The court directed OGRA and SSGCL to redress all such complaints and provide relief to the affected consumers.
The court said that in the past, SSGCL had been given clear orders to ensure gas supply in the province, but the company neither contacted the federal government nor resolved the supply issues.
The court remarked that the company’s behavior amounted to “disobedience of court orders and willful disregard for public interest”, hence show cause notices are issued to the GM SSGCL, Head of Billing Section and Manager Legal as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them.
The court also observed that the federal government had approved 30 LPG air mix plants for Balochistan which were unjustifiably shut down in 2019, while new plants are being set up in other provinces.
The court directed the Chief Secretary of Balochistan, as a member of the SSGCL board, to raise the matter again in the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the Council of Common Interests (CCI) so that gas supply could be made possible in the remote districts of the province.
The court also directed the Chairman OGRA to issue a notice and ask the agency to explain why less gas is being supplied to Balochistan, how the weighted average price of gas (WACOG) is determined, and why Article 158 of the Constitution was ignored in it.
The court ordered that SSGCL submit a detailed report on gas consumers, gas pressure, load shedding hours and steps taken against illegal connections in every district and tehsil of the province.
It was also ordered that a copy of the court orders be sent to the Federal Secretary Energy and Petroleum, Chairman OGRA, Chief Secretary Balochistan, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, and GM,SSGCL for compliance.
The further hearing of the case was adjourned till November 18, 2025.