Saeed Ahmed Khan, chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), who was restored by Islamabad high Court (IHC) after he challenged the federal government's decision of sending him on forced leave may resume his duty within next few days, it is learnt.
According to reliable sources, following the IHC verdict on April 12, 2015 that overruled the federal government's decision, the Ogra chairman is yet to resume his duties. The delay in taking over as chairman Ogra, according to sources is believed to be the detailed verdict which the court will announce shortly.
On February 11, the Cabinet Division had sent Khan on forced leave blaming him for petrol crisis that crippled parts of the country in January this year. However, the court annulled the government decision to send him on forced leave but it did not stop the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) from conducting an inquiry against Khan.
Since chairmen and members of regulatory bodies are protected under the law, the government had sent a reference against the Ogra chairman to the FPSC for holding an inquiry against him for his alleged negligence in the oil crisis besides sending him on a three-month forced leave.
The authority has to take many important decisions including the fixation of provisional Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) price, approving revenue requirements of the Sui-Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Sui-Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). At present, the regulatory body is incomplete as the government has not been able to appoint member oil, while member finance is dysfunctional and the authority is running day-to-day matters with only member gas.
It is pertinent to mention that to make any decision, the authority should have at least three members which can take decisions related matters of the regulatory body. The government had also suspended Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Deputy Managing Director Jahangir Ali Shah in connection with the petrol crisis. He also obtained a stay order from Sindh High Court (SHC) and has also been restored to his position.
While all other officials, suspended in connection with fuel crisis have not yet been restored by the government as they had not gone to the court like others. According to sources, the Ministry of Petroleum is contemplating to appoint a new managing director for PSO by April end.
However, there is speculation that the government is keen to give extension to the incumbent acting MD PSO Shahid Islam Butt who is looking after the matters of state-run oil marketing company after Janjua was shown the door in wake of oil crisis.
Comments
Comments are closed.