Chief Justice says government cannot take back power subsidy
Wednesday, November 13th, 2013 4:44:46 by Ahmad Mehdi
Hearing the power price hike and loadshedding case, the three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that the government cannot, by law, remove a subsidy that was provided earlier.
The purpose of the state is to serve the masses and the government is duty bound to give relief to the masses, so it cannot withdraw a subsidy that has already been provided,” said the Chief Justice.
According to the CJ, increase in power prices has further deteriorated the common man’s living standard as other commodities have also gone up following the hikes.
Munir A Malik, the Attorney General, reported that the government had provided a 59 billion rupees subsidy in 2006-07, which was then increased to 220 billion last year.
“The government wants good governance to prevail and the best utilisation of resources,” said the Attorney General, according to whom the removal of subsidy is aimed at using revenue for the education and health sectors.
The CJ however commented that the government needs to follow proper procedure instead of burdening the already downtrodden masses. The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing and will be seeking legal reasoning behind the subsidy’s removal on the next hearing.
-Image courtesy: pakimag.com
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Posted by Ahmad Mehdi
on Nov 13 2013. Filed under Pakistan.
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