PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the Peshawar Electric Supply Company to stop unannounced loadshedding forthwith and crack down on power theft.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Ikramullah Khan ruled that the Pesco should not victimise power consumers, who regularly paid bills, on the pretext of line losses and power theft in their respective areas.

Hearing a petition filed by resident Waqas Khan Chamkani, who claimed that the Pesco had resorted to ‘oppressive loadshedding’ in the scorching heat and turned the people’s life miserable, the bench directed the relevant officials to get cases registered against those involved in power theft and ensure that genuine consumers are not victimised.

Counsel for the petitioner Shabbir Hussain Gigyani said most residents of Chamkani area had been paying electricity bills regularly but still they’re subjected to the excessive power cuts by the Pesco.

He said the unannounced loadshedding continued for many hours and that the electricity was supplied to the residents for few hours all through the day.

Pesco also asked to crack down on power theft

The lawyer said the Pesco followed no loadshedding schedule and subjected its consumers to the excessive power outages without prior information.

After preliminary hearing over unscheduled loadshedding, the bench summoned the relevant Pesco official in the morning.

Later, the relevant executive engineer and sub-divisional officer of the electric company appeared before it.

The officials claimed that the Pesco had regularly been providing electricity to its consumers and had to resort to loadshedding in areas with high line losses and rampant electricity theft.

They said that in the area, where the petitioner lived, around 48 per cent of the Pesco consumers had not been paying bills but utilised electricity.

The bench asked who was responsible for collection of bills and taking action against power theft.

The bench wondered how 52 per cent of the power consumers could be punished for the wrongdoings of the rest.

It observed that even if 10 per cent of consumers had been paying power bills in an area, the Pesco had the responsibility to ensure uninterrupted power supply to them.

The bench added that the people paying bills regularly couldn’t be subjected to loadshedding due to the negligence of Pesco officials.

Lawyer Shabbir Gigyani argued that provision of basic necessities of life, including drinking water, natural gas and electricity, was an inalienable right of the people and the superior courts in different judgments had declared them right to life.

He added that it was the responsibility of the state to provide the basic amenities of life to the people.

During hearing, another lawyer, Danyal Asad Chamkani, pointed out that high-ups of the Pesco were involved in the massive utilisation of electricity and that the areas inhabited by them were free from power loadshedding.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2020