Centre told to pay Rs4.91 billion to SSGC for gasification of villages near gas fields

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the federal government to pay the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) an amount of Rs4.912 billion so that it could ensure the supply of gas to all the surrounding localities and villages falling within the radius of five kilometres of all gas fields on a priority basis.

The direction was issued on petition with regard to the lack of provision of welfare funds to the people living in areas where oil and gas were being explored, and non-implementation of the Supreme Court (SC) orders.

The high court had directed the federal government to submit comments with regard to the responsibility of the federal and provincial government in ensuring that gas was provided to all the villages falling within a five-kilometre radius of all the gas fields in the province.

The SHC observed that directives of the apex court as well as the prime minister in this regard had not been complied with despite a lapse of several years.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha after hearing the arguments of the federal government, the SSGC and the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) observed that Ogra’s stance had been that the cost of gasification of villages was to be borne by the SSGC if the villages fell under the given criteria and that the gas utility had already carried out gasification of such 114 villages in Sindh that were within five kilometres of some gas fields.

A counsel for the SSGC informed the high court that they were willing to provide gas facility to the villages as per directives of the court if the federal government provided the required funds of Rs.4.912 billion for such purpose. The federal government, however, submitted that it had no funds to make any such grant.

Regarding a decision of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which said the cost of provision of gas to villages was to be borne by the gas distribution companies, the high court observed that it did not find the CCI decision legally binding on the distribution companies when the SC had already placed that obligation on the ministry of petroleum and natural resources and Parliament had not enacted the CCI decision.

The SHC remarked that its concern was to implement the SC orders which had reached finality and were legally binding on all the respondents. The high court observed that the right to gas especially in cold areas during winter when gas fields were located within five kilometres of a village was a fundamental right of the villagers, which formed a part of the right to life as guaranteed under the constitution and the same was in consonance with the idea of an Islamic welfare state which the present government laudably intended to establish.

The SHC gave last chance to the ministry of petroleum and directed the federal government to pay Rs4.912 billion to the SSGC within seven days so that the gas utility could commence work on the gasification of the remaining relevant villages after receipt of such funds and complete the task within six months.

The high court warned that in case the federal government did not pay the aforesaid amount to the SSGC, the show-cause notice to the federal petroleum secretary, which had been suspended by the court, shall stand revived and the secretary shall appear before the court on February 17 to explain the non-compliance with the court orders and that why he should not be charged with contempt of court orders that had remained unimplemented for the last six years.

The SHC observed that 70 per cent of the gas produced in Pakistan came from gas fields of Sindh as per a statement of the SSGC and keeping in view the 18th amendment that aimed to give more provincial autonomy, there should be no shortage in providing such gas to the villages in Sindh as the main issue was of cost, not of the availability of gas.

The high court directed the petroleum secretary to submit a compliance report and further directed each district of the province to file update reports on the projects that were being carried out for the local people there out of the funds being provided by the oil exploration companies.