PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday issued a stay order temporarily stopping the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) from suspending gas supply to textile mills in the province until further orders.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed M Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmad issued the order over a petition jointly filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association, Gadoon Textile Mills and four others challenging the frequent ‘disconnection’ of gas supply to textile mills by the SNGPL.

The bench fixed May 18 for next hearing and issued notice to the SNGPL asking it to file comments on the plea before that date.

The petitioners contended that the action of the SNGPL violated Article 158 of the Constitution, which guaranteed that the province with a wellhead of natural gas should have precedence over other parts of the country for meeting its needs from that facility.

Seeks SNGPL’s reply to plea against frequent gas disruption

They said KP produced natural gas more than its requirement, so it was mandatory that its needs should be met before supplying the natural gas produced by it to other parts in the country.

The respondents in the petition are the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) through its chairman, federation of Pakistan through the secretary of the cabinet division, ministry of petroleum and natural resources through its secretary, KP government through its chief secretary, SNGPL managing director and general manager in KP, and Council of Common Interest through its secretary.

Advocate Mohammad Yasir Khattak and Barrister Ibrahim Afridi appeared for the petitioners and insisted that the member mills of the association faced huge losses due to curtailed gas supply in the winter season on the directions of the SNGPL.

They said despite promising member mills that no further curtailment would be made in the gas supply from the month of April, the SNGPL had again issued directions for halving gas use and consumption and that the directions were issued through WhatsApp mobile app on March 31, 2022.

The lawyers complained that the SNGPL curtailed gas supply frequently and without prior notices.

They said the suspension and curtailment of gas supply to their clients was carried out by the government on basis of the Natural Gas Allocation and Management Policy, 2005, which had been amended from time to time.

The counsel said under that policy, a certain priority order had been defined keeping in view the nature and category of gas consumers and that under that order, the domestic and commercial consumers were the first priority and the general industries fourth.

They said their clients had jointly written a letter to the SNGPL’s general manager complaining that textile mills in the province had been operating at half of its capacity due to the frequent power loadshedding and availability of gas supply up to 38 per cent.

The lawyers said certain textile mills were compelled to sign undertakings declaring that the volume equivalent to 38 per cent of the average gas consumption from Sept to Nov 2021 should be supplied until Jan 31, 2022.

They, however, added that after Jan 31 when the SNGPL was requested to restore gas supply and was reminded of its commitment, it again directed the petitioners to reduce gas consumption.

The counsel argued that the province produced 400MMCFD gas and consumed 196MMFCD gas leaving a surplus of 204MMCFD.

They referred to different judgements of the superior court in support of their contention and requested the court to declare that disconnection or discontinuation of the supply of natural gas cannot happen in any part of the province under the garb of any policy or plan.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2022