“The people of KPK have the first right to use the fuel extracted from its borders” the high court in Peshawar gave the ruling on Wednesday.
This ruling is considered to be quite similar to the one issued back in 2010.
A petition was filed up by a Saif textile mills through their council against the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and the ruling was passed by a two-judge bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Musarat Hilali. The petition stated that
Under article 158 of the Constitution, the province where the well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan to consuming gas produced from it.
The mill endorsed the court to ensure that the gas supply company complies with the constitutional rules and continues unabated supply of gas to the industries in KPK.
To avoid loss due to loadshedding, the petitioner told that he took precautionary measures and installed a large 2.25-megawatt gas-fired power plant as well as installed a different gas connection for supply of two million cubic feet of gas per day.
The court approved the petition and ordered SNGPL for an ongoing supply of the gas to the industries in KP.
But due to the increased demand of energy and power supply shortage by PESCO, the petitioner decided to expand the power plant’s capacity and asked SNGPL for another MMCFD in order to meet its power needs.
However, back in 2014, SNGPL told the petitioner that the request could not be implemented due to a hiatus imposed by the federal government. The petitioner said,
The moratorium is unwarranted as far as K-P is concerned since the province is producing sufficient natural gas for its own use.
According to the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, the production of natural gas increased from 29,706 million cubic feet (MCF) in 2007 to 126,234 MCF in 2013, to which KP consumed 65,179 MCF, along with a surplus of 61,055 MCF.
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