PESHAWAR: A writ petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday against the worsening energy crisis in the country, including electricity and the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) outages that are severely affecting business activities.
The petition filed by Muhammad Hamdan advocate has nameed the Ministry of Energy, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Ministry of Petroleum and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary as respondents.
The petition said that the country, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was facing a severe energy crisis and the government had failed to effectively address shortages of electricity, gas, CNG, and fuel.
The lawyer contended that the lack of these essential services violates several constitutional provisions, including Articles 2A, 3, 4, 9, 9A, 14, 18, 25, 157, and 158, and was adversely affecting children, women, and the elderly.
The petitioner stated that recurring energy shortages and frequent increases in petroleum prices were causing continuous mental and physical distress to citizens, as they led to higher transport fares, rising food prices, and even food shortages.
According to the petition, Article 18 of the Constitution guaranteed the right to conduct lawful business, but government’s policies and persistent loadshedding, suspension of gas supply to CNG stations, and restrictive measures had severely disrupted business activities and livelihoods.
The lawyer argued that the state and its institutions had failed to safeguard the fundamental rights and welfare of the people.The petitioner highlighted that the ongoing energy crisis and power and gas outages had caused significant losses to economic and industrial activities.
He prayed the court to direct the government and relevant authorities to take immediate steps to control the energy crisis, ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity, gas, and CNG, and regulate prices of petrol, CNG, and LPG.The court has also been requested to seek a comprehensive plan from the government to address these issues. The petition has been fixed for the hearing.
