The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday directed the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company (SNGPL) to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to textile mills.
The order was issued by PHC’s two-judge bench comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Ijaz Anwar while hearing a writ petition submitted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association through Yasir Khattak, Farooq Afridi and Asadullah advocates.
The petition stated that under the constitution, areas which produce gas have first right over it and only surplus gas can be provided to other parts of the country. “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is self-sufficient in gas but it is provided to other parts of the country as a result, our industries have been subjected to constant outages,” The petition said.
The petition that gas load shedding in KP is not only a violation of the constitution but also violates the earlier judgments of the Peshawar High Court. The petition said, “The southern districts are already economically weak and such a massive gas load shedding will have negative impacts on the industrial productivity.” The petitioner added that in such a situation, it will be very difficult to attract foreign or local investors to revive the ailing economy.
Lawyers for petitioner said that the issue has been brought to the notice of Sui Northern Gas authorities several times but no action has been taken and the company has continued the “illegal” gas load-shedding. After heading the arguments, the bench directed to ensure smooth gas supply to the textile industry and adjourned the hearing of the case.
