ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that the previous government had awarded the LPG quota allegedly in a non-transparent manner to certain individuals, including two former chairmen of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

PML-N member of the National Assembly Khwaja Muhammad Asif told a two-judge bench comprising Justice Javed Iqbal and Anwar Zaheer Jamali that former NAB chairmen Lt-Gen (retd) Khalid Maqbool of Awami Gas and Lt-Gen (retd) Munir Hafeez of Wyne Gas had been awarded the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) quota in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

The bench hearing a petition of the PML-N leader challenging the grant of LPG extraction plant licence to Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL) in 2003 was requested to order a fresh bidding process.

Other beneficiaries of the LGP quota are: Lt-Gen (retd) Saeed Zafar of Alpha Gas (2004), former Sindh governor Lt-Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider of Power Gas (2004), Major (retd) Ishtiaq Asif of Sehwan Gas (2006), Jamal A. Ansari of Akbar Associates (2004), Muhammad Shareef of Cress Gas (2006), Shahbaz A. Khan of Golden Gas (2004), Husnain Shafqat of Home Gas (2008), Moeen Saleem Rana of Kirn Gas (2004), Ijaz Muhammad Khan of Links International (2005), Iqbal Z. Ahmad of Lub Gas (2004), Sayyed Asghar A. Shah of Martial Gas, Iqbal Z. Ahmad of Mehran Gas (2004), Mir Hussain Raza of MNA Energy (2006), Bilal Jabbar of Noor LPG (2005), Rehmat Khan of OK Gas (2007), Pervaiz Kauser of PSO (2007), Amir Shahid of Petro LPG (2008), Fareeda Tariq of Petroleum Gas (2005), Muhammad Farooq Azam of Pyramid Gas (2006), Muhammad Sadiq of Ravi Gas (2006), Bushra Aitzaz Ahsan of Sam Gas (2005), Yawar Abbas Madni of Sindh Gas (2006), Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal of Super Star Gas, Ahsan Latif of Synergy Resources and Farooq Akhtar of Tez Gas (2004).

Khwaja Asif alleged that the LPG extraction contract was awarded to the sole bidder JJVL at the behest of former president Pervez Musharraf in 2003 which caused huge losses to the national exchequer.

The same policy, he said, was also being followed by the present government.

The successive governments have been misusing the allocation of LPG quotas for 30 years only to oblige certain individuals or companies, instead of auctioning it through a transparent manner.

The issue has also been raised in the National Assembly on a number of occasions.

The National Assembly last year constituted a sub-committee to look into the matter of allocating the contract to JJVL. In November last year, the committee submitted a set of recommendations.

The petitioner requested the court to order the government to review the award of contract to JJVL, fix responsibility and recover the losses caused to the national exchequer. “Action so taken will help create deterrence against corruption in society,” he added.

Khwaja Asif also sought a court order requiring the Competition Commission of Pakistan to play its role and discourage the tendency of creating monopoly.