Pakistan petrol crisis: Commission to investigate shortage, price increase

The government is forming a commission to investigate the country-wide fuel shortage and increase in petrol prices before the end of the month, the Lahore High Court was informed on Thursday.

The court has asked for the commission TORs to be presented in court at the next hearing on July 16.

The attorney-general, OGRA chairperson and PM’s principal secretary appeared in court.

“You can’t hide things from the people. It is against their rights,” said Chief Justice Qasim Ali Khan. It feels as if country’s bigwigs are named in the reference too. The OGRA chairperson will either be the only witness or the only suspect in the case, he added.

The petroleum ministry submitted its reply in the case too. The chief justice said that the reply was nothing sort of a puzzle. “There was such a big petrol shortage. People need to know what happened. The government should’ve taken some step to solve the crisis,” he said. This was nothing short of bad governance, he added.

Azam Khan, the PM’s principal secretary, said that the June 26 increase in petrol prices was not ill-intentioned. The government is forming a commission and truth will be out soon, he added.