Government decision on DTS challenged in LHC

23 Apr, 2009

A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued pre-admission notice for April 27 in a writ petition, challenging advancing of the clock by an hour (Daylight Time Saving- DTS) as well as unequal burden of load-shedding on the citizens.
Petitioner Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, through his counsel Barrister Farooq Hassan, contended that alteration made in the time from April 15 last was without any statutory or constitutional authority, unreasonable, arbitrary, lacking in cohesion and against the fundamental rights of the people.
He said such exercise of power was void per se, as the Federation was utterly confused as to differentiate between advancing of the clocks and backing them up. The petitioner said the government claimed that advancing the clock by one hour aimed at doing equal good to the people was discriminatory and arbitrary in constitutional terms as well as undemocratic.
As to load shedding, the petitioner said, the authorities claimed that the difference of 2200mw in supply and demand of electricity existed per day load shedding across the board should not exceed three hours, which, however, was from 16 to 18 hours a day. He prayed to the court to strike down the notification relating to advancing the clock by one hour and also direct the authorities to put equal burden of load shedding on the citizens.

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