SC orders fixing gas cylinder price in two days

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the federal government to fix the price of an oxygen cylinder besides adopting a procedure for the determination of its price.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel heard a suo moto case regarding corona.

The court expressed dissatisfaction over the reports submitted by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as well as the Sindh government and sought fresh reports on the next date of hearing. The court directed the Industry and Production Ministry to fix the price of an oxygen cylinder within two days besides working out a procedure to determine its price.

The court also directed strict action against those pilots who were removed for possessing fake licences besides directing the Civil Aviation Authority to approach the courts concerned wherein its employees had got a stay against the action taken against them.

The court directed that assistance of the Attorney-General should be sought to deal with stay orders. During the course of hearing, Additional Attorney-General Sohail Mahmood told the court that reports on behalf of the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had been submitted.

On April 30, he submitted the government had issued an NOC for import of unregistered medicines. The Chief Justice, however, questioned as to why this was allowed and whether any probe had been made as to why these medicines were being imported.

The court was informed that there was no scarcity of medicines for the pandemic, adding that ventilators and other equipment as well as medicines for the pandemic were being manufactured in the country.

The CJ observed that to cope with the situation, a large quantity of oxygen could be taken from the oxygen plant of the Pakistan Steel Mills. At this, Additional Attorney-General Sohail Mahmood told the court that the oxygen plant of the Pakistan Steel Mills was 40-year old

The law officer said that it would cost some Rs1 billion to make it functional, adding that a team of experts was examining it.

He submitted that a detailed report would be submitted before the court in this regard. Khyber Pukhtunklhwa Advocate-General Shumail Butt through a video-link from the Peshawar Registry requested for fixing the price of an oxygen cylinder. He said that the dealers were charging at will, as the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) had not fixed the price for it.

DRAP representatives, however, told the court that oxygen matter was directly linked to the Ministry of Industries and they had nothing to do with it. The court directed the Ministry of Production and Industries to fix within two days the price for an oxygen cylinder besides making a procedure for determining the price. The court expressed dissatisfaction over the NDMA report and sought fresh one.

The CJ said that Al-Hafeez Company was established for manufacturing N-95 masks and payments were made to the company in cash, adding the machinery was imported through a chartered aircraft.

The court also raised questions over the role of the Pakistan Embassy in China in the whole process and asked as to why all the purchasing was made through the embassy in China. “Whether the Ambassador of Pakistan in China also renders diplomatic services or is only bent upon purchasing”, the CJP inquired.

“Who paid the cash and who got the amount, nobody knows but NDMA has been mentioned in reports.” Meanwhile, the NDMA chairman present in the courtroom submitted that he had taken the charge recently.

The court directed him to visit all the quarantine centers, examine the situation there and then file a comprehensive report. He assured the court that a comprehensive report would be submitted.

During hearing, the court was informed that action was being taken against 60 PIA employees for possessing fake degrees and 34 of them had got a stay from the court while 17 staffers had been suspended.

Similarly, the court was also informed on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority that action was being taken against 60 pilots and criminal cases had been registered against them.

The counsel for the CAA told the court that cases had been lodged against these 40 pilots with the Federal Investigation Agency. He said that these pilots had allegedly managed their hiring through illegal means. The counsel said the pilots gave money to the Civil Aviation Authority for getting licences and were also involved in money laundering, adding that it’s a big scandal involving many people.

The CJ, however, observed that he (the counsel) would not be able to get witnesses as well evidence while all the accused would manage to get acquittal from the court. He observed that 90 percent accused got acquittal for lack of evidence.

The counsel, however, contended that money trails of the accused were available while challans had been submitted while witnesses were also available. Meanwhile, the court directed the Civil Aviation Authority to pursue the cases and directed DG to submit a progress report on the next date of hearing.

The court expressed reservations about the report submitted by the Sindh government and observed that it had spent a huge amount on education and health. According to the report, the provincial government had spent some $2,600 million from 2013 to 2017 on education.

He remarked that keeping in view the huge amount spent on education, all the educational institutions there should have become like Harvard. The KP government report submitted by its Advocate-General informed the court that the situation was under control in the province, adding after imposing a strict lockdown in most sensitive areas, the ratio of corona cases was decreasing. The court adjourned the hearing for a month.