Certain employees of oil and gas companies, colluding with consumers to steal gas and oil, will also face jail, official sources told Business Recorder. This was decided by the federal Cabinet on July 27, 2011 on a summary moved by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources titled 'Draft Bill for amendment in Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898'. The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
The Petroleum Ministry in its summary recommended to the Cabinet that those who are involved in oil and gas theft should be punished. "Cabinet has decided that during the process of legislation, more stringent punishments would be recommended for the offences committee by the industrial and commercial concerns and that the abetment by the public servants and employees of the oil and gas companies should also be made punishable in clear terms," sources added.
According to official documents obtained from Cabinet Division, at present there is no specific law which pre-empts oil and gas theft. All such cases are being registered under section 379 of Pakistan Penal Code but the quantum of punishment thereunder is not enough to deter the culprits involved in such heinous crimes. As such there is a need to enact necessary legislation to check this ever increasing menace to safeguard public property and national exchequer/assets.
For these reasons it is considered essential to amend Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr PC) to make the offences like tampering oil and gas pipelines, damaging and causing destruction to oil and gas pipelines and theft of oil and gas liable for punishment of imprisonment and imposition of fine commensurate with the gravity of offence by insertion of a new chapter namely "Chapter XVIIA" in Pakistan Penal Code, 1860(XKV of 1860).
Salient features of the drat bill are as follows: (i) any person committing offence of tampering with main petroleum pipelines will face rigorous imprisonment up to 14 years and fine up to Rs 10 million; (ii) any person committing offence of tampering with auxiliary or distribution pipeline will face rigorous imprisonment of up to 10 years and fine up to Rs 3 million; ( iii) any person committing offence of tampering with gas meter etc shall be punishable (a) in case of domestic consumers, imprisonment up to six months and fine up to Rs 10,000; (b) in case of industrial or commercial consumers, imprisonment to 3 years and fine up to Rs 1 million; and (c) any person committing offence of damaging or destructing the transmission or transportation pipelines by explosive material or in any other manner will face rigorous imprisonment up to 14 years and with fine which shall not be less than Rs 1 million.