Saturday, January 25, 2014
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday tendered an unqualified apology to the IHC where he was summoned by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on January 21 in a contempt of court application.
The minister had passed derogatory remarks regarding the IHC judgment, allowing the CNG stations to remain open for three days a week. The court accepted his apology and disposed of the matter.
Filing a contempt of court application, a petitioner Syed Javed Akbar Shah had contended that the federal minister has passed contemptuous remarks in a news conference regarding the court judgment for the provision of natural gas to the CNG stations on January 11.
Abbasi?s counsel Mir Aurangzeb argued before the court that the word ?unfortunately? was never uttered with mala fide intentions by his client while referring to the court decision. ?My client respects the court and has never deliberately spoken anything that is against the honour of the court. My client has appeared before the court respecting the court?s decision,? he said.
Aurangzeb argued that if the court feels that any inappropriate word had been spoken, ?my client tenders an unconditional apology?.
Justice Siddiqui at that instance said that if you would not respect the courts, how would a common man? After the hearing, Abbasi told the media at the IHC that from next year, Pakistan would be having surplus gas as the federal government had devised a strategy based on liquefied natural gas (LNG)
On gas shortage and loadshedding, Abbasi said that the PML-N took charge of the government in very difficult circumstances. ?However, we have a devised a strategy for overcoming the gas shortage through import of LNG. From the start of next year, we would be having surplus gas,? he said.
The federal minister said, ?We have told the CNG station owners to take natural gas at the market rate.? Regarding multiple CNG stations situated closely to each other, the minister said that the previous government had issued the licenses to them.
Responding to a question about the inflated prices of LPG, he said they had controlled the prices. The prices would have gone up by 500 rupees but the government contained it to an increase of 200 rupees, he said.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-28166-Minister-apologises-to-IHC-over-CNG-remarks
