LAHORE: Equalisation, Debt-Servicing, Universal Obligation Fund and Neelam-Jhelum surcharges collected through electricity bills have been declared illegal by Lahore High Court (LHC). A bench on Friday asked the government to refund and adjust the amount collected from consumers under these surcharges and also asked National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to work out a repayment plan in three months from the receipt of the court order.
A division bench comprising Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Ayesha A. Malik did away with 270 identical intra-court appeals filed by a cement company and others. The bench heard the arguments of counsel for the federal government, the Nepra and electricity supply companies and appellants at length. The bench was assisted by amici curiae Khaleequz Zaman, Waqas Ahmad Meer, and Wasee-ul-Hasnain Naqvi advocates. Appellants' Counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique with others castigated section 31(5) of the Nepra Act, 1997 stating that the power of federal government to levy surcharge was ultra vires and a negation of the Constitution as the same had been added and amended through the Finance Act, 2008.
They argued that the provision of electricity was a fundamental right under Article 9 read with 14 and the "Annual Tariff" determination under the prevailing practice by including the line losses, theft and administrative losses was a violation of the aforesaid fundamental rights, as also exploitation in term of Article 3 of the Constitution.
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