The Supreme Court has annulled the decision declaring fuel price adjustment illegal, and referred the matter to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Appellate Tribunal.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by the chief justice of Pakistan, disposed of all 1,900 petitions against fuel price adjustment.

It annulled the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) that had declared fuel price adjustment in electricity bills illegal.

The SC ruled that the decision of the Lahore High Court was constitutionally and legally not enforceable. Consumer companies were directed to file appeals before the Nepra Appellate Tribunal within 15 days.

The tribunal must fix the appeals for hearing within 10 days, and decide them as soon as possible within the statutory period, the order stated.

A single bench of the Lahore High Court had declared the fuel price adjustment illegal.

The companies’ lawyer argued that when the fuel price adjustment was charged in May 2022, the formation of Nepra was unconstitutional.

The CJP asked that if the establishment of NEPRA was unconstitutional, the judge should have ruled on the matter. The Lahore High Court single bench gave a decision outside of its jurisdiction, and it is not possible to uphold it, CJP Qazi Faez Isa declared.

High court judges forget to read Article 199 of the Constitution, the CJP remarked, asking if the high court judge can say what the electricity bill will be on usage of 500 units of electricity.

Justice Athar Minallah said no court, including the Supreme Court, can look into the technical issues of NEPRA.

The Lahore High Court gave a decision on a matter that was not even requested in the petitions, CJP Isa argued. He added that it would be better if the technical issues are raised before NEPRA itself.

The attorney general for Pakistan argued that NEPRA and distribution companies had no objection to challenging the matter before the tribunal.

The Supreme Court allowed the companies to collect fuel price adjustment from today. The amount owed to the companies and industries will be subject to the decision of the Nepra tribunal, the court declared.