A local citizen has moved the petition, saying that there is no mechanism to hike the prices of petroleum products in the country.
LAHORE: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Nov 4th, 2021) The Lahore High Court on Thursday sought the government’s assistance on the procedure of hiking prices of petroleum products in the country.
A LHC division bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh passed the order on a petition challenging hike in petroleum products’ prices in the country. The court issued notice to the Attorney General for Pakistan to submit reply.
The petitioner submitted that there was no procedure to fix the prices of petroleum products in the country while the government was receiving 17 per cent sales tax.
He also said that the government’s imposition of sales tax on essential products was a violation of the Constitution.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) last year in July had approved a recommendation for regulating petroleum prices in the country after every 15 days. Prime Minister Imran Khan on October 30 had turned down the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) proposal suggesting an increase in fuel prices from November 1.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had proposed a hike of Rs6 per litre in the price of petrol and a Rs8/litre hike in that of high-speed diesel (HSD). The prices of petroleum products are fixed by the government for 15 days.
The price of per litre petrol is Rs 137.79, high-speed diesel is Rs 134. 48, Kerosene oil is Rs 110. 26 while light diesel oil is being sold at Rs108.35 per litre.
