PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of All Pakistan CNG Association has challenged in Peshawar High Court the loadshedding of natural gas in the province and the decision of imposing mandatory loadshedding on CNG stations for 17 hours by the district administrations in Swat and Malakand.

A joint writ petition, filed by the association through its chairman Fazal Mugeem and 35 CNG stations of Swat and Malakand, states that in the light of an earlier judgment of the high court the government was bound not to cause any gas loadshedding directly or through reduced gas pressure or any other means of curtailment in supply of gas to the petitioners and other consumers in the province.

The petitioners have also challenged an order of the commissioner of Malakand division issued on Dec 31, 2015, whereby the deputy commissioners of Swat and Malakand were directed to impose a gas loadshedding schedule from Sam to 10pm for CNG stations and seven hours loadshedding for domestic consumers, stating thatthe said order is in total and blatant disregard and violation of the judgment of the high court.

The petition, filed through Advocate Shumail Ahmad But t, states that the high court in its order on Dec 7, 2010, in several writ petitions directed all stakeholders to adhere to provisions of Article 158 of the Constitution in letter and spirit vis-à-vis supply of gas and thus Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must receive precedence over other parts of the country in meeting requirements from the wellheads of the province.

The respondents in the petition are federal government through secretary ministry of petroleum and natural resources; Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) through its managing director; general manager SNGPL, KP regional of fice; commissioner of Malakand division; deputy commissioners of Swat and Malakand; and provincial government through its chief secretary.

The petitioners have requested the court to declare that the respondents are bound to meet with precedence and priority the demand of the petitioners and other consumers of this province through gas produced from wellhead situated within the province.

They request the court to declare the decision of Malakand commissioner and consequence activities to close down CNG filling stations or reduce or interfere with supply of natural gas as illegal and without lawful authority. They urge the court to restrain the respondents from further defying the judgment of the high court andfrom enforcing any gas loadshedding or gas supply curtailment through low pressure or otherwise throughout the province.

The petitioners claim that according to official record of National Assembly question and answer session on Dec 17, 2015, while responding to a question of one of the MNAs, the minister for petroleum had admitted that the province was a net exporter as it produced over 362 million cubic feet (MCF) of gas per day whereas its consumption was far low at 293 MMCFD. They add that the minister had not included new gas fields of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whose production came in network lately such as Makori East and Mamikhel, as presently the province has a production ranging from 395 to 400 MMCFD of gas, which will soon be further augmented with Mardankhel.

Meanwhile, All Pakist an CNG Association has also filed a contempt of court petition stating that as the respondents has willfully been disobeying judgment of the high court and thus they are liable to be prosecuted for contempt of court and accordingly punished in terms of Article 204 of the Constitution read with the Contempt of Court Ordinance,2003.

The respondents in contempt petition are SNGPL managing director Amir Tufail; general manager of SNGPL regional office, Eng Saqib Arbab; Malakand Commissioner Usman Gul; and deputy commissioners of Swat and Malakand, Mehmood Aslam Wazir and Agha Mohammad Ali Abbas, respectively.