Lahore High Court moved against petroleum price hike

LAHORE – A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday challenging the second price hike in petroleum prices, as the recent surge in the prices of petroleum products put an additional burden of billions on already distressed masses.

Lahore High Court was approached as the Sharif-led government on Wednesday jacked up the price of petroleum products by around 9 percent under IMF guidelines to unlock stalled funds.

Following the surge, a petition was filed in Lahore High Court on Thursday, which urged the court to issue directives to reverse the petrol price hike. The petroleum minister, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and others were named respondents in the case.

The petitioner termed the increase in petrol illegal and pleaded with the court to declare new prices null and void. He maintained that the recent price hike would trigger a further increase in prices of other commodities and would therefore create more woes for the populace.

With the revised prices, Sharif led government jacked up the price of petrol by Rs22.20 per litre, pushing it to record Rs272 per litre while the new price of high-speed diesel has been fixed as Rs280 per litre after an increase of Rs17.20.