Islamabad High Court on Monday directed Secretary Ministry of Water and Power to appear in person on December 15 in a case regarding electricity overbilling. A single-member bench of Justice Athar Minallah resumed the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) top brass including Asad Umar, Arif Alvi and Shireen Mazari, contending that National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and Discos were over-billing consumers every month to maximise their revenues and pleaded before the court to take a legal action against the authorities involved in over-billing.
The bench expressed annoyance over the absence of the Secretary from the court proceedings, directing the Secretary to appear in person and submit comprehensive report pertaining to an increase in electricity tariff last year. The court imposed a fine of Rs 20000 on Joint Secretary Ministry of Water and Power Zargham Eshaq Khan for not submitting a reply to the court in time. Besides, the court maintained its pervious order on the matter through which it barred power distribution companies (DISCOs) from collecting additional electricity tariff from consumers.
During the course of proceedings, representatives of all the power distribution companies appeared in court while Deputy Attorney General Malik Faisal Farooq appeared on the behalf of federation. The PTI's counsel urged the court that the government should be barred from collecting additional charges on electricity bills. He requested the court to form a judicial commission as well to probe the matter. The court directed Secretary Water & Power to appear in the next hearing on December 15.
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