QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court has nullified adding of PUG (passing unregistered gas) / slow meter charges to consumers’ monthly bills by the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), saying just on the basis of doubt nobody could be assumed to be a gas thief.

A BHC bench comprising Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Abdul Hameed Baloch annou­nced on Thursday its verdict on a petition filed by lawyers Syed Nazeer Agha, Farzana Khilji and Sultana Sarwar against the SSGC, which is sending thousands of rupees PUG / slow meter charges with gas bills to the consumers.

The court asked how a consumer could be charged PUG / slow meter charges on the basis of doubt. It was in conflict with Articles 8, 9 and 25 of the Constitution which dealt with basic human rights, it observed.

Regarding additional deposit charges, the court said that if any consumer had a complaint in this regard, he should approach the Consumer Court. All the courts of magistrates are consumer courts.

The verdict said that a notice should be issued to the user before removing his gas meter.

During the hearing, the SSGC presented a report on gas pressure in Ziarat district, stating that the supply of gas to 6,000 consumers of Ziarat had been started from Kuchlak through a 16-inch-diameter pipeline. However, in more than 70 villages along the way, gas pressure is affected through pressure regulation stations.

According to the report, juniper forests in Ziarat are at risk due to non-availability of gas and low pressure. The gas company is finding it difficult to deliver gas to the hilly areas of Ziarat and has planned to lay a 21km pipeline which will solve the problem of gas pressure in Ziarat.

Rukhsana Kakar advocate and Kashif Panizai, joint secretary of Ziarat Bar Association, told the court that when VIPs visited Ziarat, there was no problem of gas pressure in the area.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2021