ISLAMABAD: An official of a gas supply company was apparently more aggrieved than domestic consumers when the Supreme Court on Wednesday delayed till January 20 the hearing of an appeal which had challenged the supply of gas to CNG stations.

The official openly expressed his disappointment as he was expecting that his legal counsel, Khawaja Mohammad Farooq, would press for a restraining order through which the three-day supply of natural gas to CNG stations would be suspended.

For this, Sui Northren Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the petroleum minis-try had taken up a joint appeal in the apex court.

However, a three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Nasir-ulMulk, decided to settle the matter along with a request to suspend the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision taken on December 20, 2013.

In its order, the high court had ordered the authorities to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to CNG stations for three days a week. `Now, the CNG owners will come and clamour for the attention of the court, the officer lamented.

In its directions, the Supreme Court also issued notices to 49 CNG stations situated mainly in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The court also asked its office to ensure the CNG owners were apprised of the notices so that they could all appear before court on the next date of hearing.

In addition to CNG stations, the list of respondents to whom notices have been issued include: Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Punjabchief secretary, Lahore Transport Company, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination and the cabinet division.

During the hearing, Advocate Khawaja Farooq, the SNGPL counsel, argued the high court`s jurisdiction to interfere in the policy matters of the federal government.

He maintained that IHC`s order to supply gas to CNG stations for three days a week was a violation of the priority fixed by the federal government in which the CNG sector came last.

According to SNGPL`s load management policy, which had been approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on March 23, 2013, domestic and commercial sectors were the top priority for provision of gas.

The power sector comes second, followed by the general industrial, fertilizer and captive power at third, cement sector at fourth and CNG sector at fifth, he told the court.

Advocate Farooq said that this policy had been drafted to ensure optimal utilisation ofnatural gas for socio-economic development of the country especially during peak hours.

Despite the fact that motorists had to wait patiently for hours for their turn, the court order brought some relief to these CNG consumers, he said.

However, he added that the order had adversely affected domestic and commercial consumers in both Rawalpindi and Islamabad who had to face extremely low gas pressure.

Since the production of natural gas in the Punjab is the lowest (at roughly 4 per cent) among the provinces, there is no comparison of the use of natural gas in Punjab with other provinces, Mr Farooq said.It may be mentioned here that Sindh produces roughly 65 per cent of natural gas, Balochistan 20 per cent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa eight per cent.

Furthermore, the appeal highlighted that the high court had issued the injunctive order for the supply of gas to CNG stations without sending any notice to SNGPL or the federal government.