Supreme Court nullifies LHC judgement on fuel price adjustment
Business
Says Nepra Appellate Tribunal is the forum to decide the matter
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court on Monday overturned the judgement passed by the Lahore High Court (LHC) which had declared the collection of fuel price adjustment (FCA) applied to the monthly bills of electricity consumers illegal.
In its order, the country’s top court said the LHC verdict was impractical both constitutionally and legally and noted that the Appellate Tribunal of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) was the appropriate forum to decide the matter.
The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, asked the petitioners to file an appeal before the Nepra's Appellate Tribunal within 10 days, which should fix matter for hearing and make a decision in 10 days.
Consumer companies should file appeals against the fuel price adjustment within 15 days with the Nepra appellate tribunal, the SC stated in its decision, directing the appellate tribunal to fix the appeals for hearing within 10 days and decide on them within a legal timeframe as soon as possible.
In February this year, a single bench of the Lahore High Court had declared the collection of the fuel price adjustment in electricity bills as illegal. The decision was subsequently challenged by the power transmission companies in the Supreme Court.
Earlier, Advocate Salman Akram Raja, appearing before the court, argued that the formation of Nepra was unconstitutional at the time the fuel price adjustment had been imposed in May 2022.
Upon this, CJP Faez Isa remarked that if the formation of the Nepra was unconstitutional, then the LHC judge should have given a decision on it, observing that the single bench had given the decision beyond its authority that could not be maintained.
The CJP observed that judges of the high courts forgot to read the Article 199 of the Constitution, questioning that how a high court judge could tell the bill for the consumption of 500 units of electricity.
Expressing similar observation, Justice Athar Minallah added that no court, including the Supreme Court, could look after the technical matters of the Nepra.
CJP Isa remarked that the Lahore High Court had given a decision that had been not requested in the petitions, adding that it would be better to raise the technical issues with the Nepra.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan informed the bench that the Nepra and Discos (power distribution companies) had no objection to challenging the case in the tribunal.
The Supreme Court ordered the power transmission companies to collect the fuel price adjustments, subject to the decision of the Nepra appellate tribunal after the Lahore High Court's decision.
Later, the three-judge bench disposed of the 1,090 petitions.
The Supreme Court had summoned arguments today (Monday) on the 1,090 petitions against the fuel price adjustment in electricity bills.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had started hearing the appeal filed by the power distribution companies (Discos) against the LHC single-member bench’s decision to declare the FCA illegal after a number of petitioners moved the provincial top court.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED AT LHC?
In February, the single-member bench comprising Justice Ali Baqir Najafi had not only listed the FCA as illegal but also directed the federal government to provide subsidy to the domestic electricity consumers consuming up to 500 units.
The petitions were jointly filed by Azhar Siddique – a Lahore-based lawyer who has remained part of the PTI legal team – and others.
Meanwhile, the LHC judgment also touched the subject of energy mix by instructing the government to use alternate cheap sources for power generation.
The judge asked Nepra not to charge exorbitant tariffs beyond the paying capacity of domestic consumers and fix the responsibility of overcharging on the basis of line losses and less efficient power plants. He added that the financial burden would also be shared by the companies under a rational proportion.
