A division bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) Thursday after hearing arguments of both sides reserved judgement on a petition filed by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) for provision of 276 million cubic feet gas per day (mmcfd). The bench comprising Chief Justice Musheer Alam and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard the arguments of counsel of the KESC and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).
The petition was filed by the KESC making Ministry of Power & Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), SSGC and others, seeking directions for the SSGC to continue supplying promised quantity of gas without any interruption. KESC counsel Abid Zuberi submitted that the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) had ordered the government and the SSGC to cut supply to other sectors, ensure provision of 276 mmcfd to the KESC in order to reduce power shortfall to the minimal level.
He contended that the SSGC defying the ECC directives reduced the supply of gas to the petitioner, which was unable to carry out its operations smoothly and forced to resort to power load shedding in Karachi. Anwar Mansoor Khan Advocate, representing the SSGC, argued that there was no agreement between the KESC and the SSGC for provision of 270 mmcfd per day.