bdnews24.com :
There will be no need for gas price hike if corruption in Petrobangla and Titas can be halved, the High Court has said.
The court says gas prices in Bangladesh should be adjusted with the international market.
Why Bangladesh should buy gas at a price higher than India, it asked, hearing a writ petition filed by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh or CAB on Sunday.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and KM Kamrul Kader expressed ire over the Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC’s role in preventing corruption in the state firms Petrobangla and Titas.
The court wondered why the ACC, despite being an independent agency, sought permission from the high-ups of the firms to investigate allegations of corruption.
It ordered inclusion of the commission as a party to the case.
The court also ordered Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission or BERC to submit a report on Bangladesh’s gas import.
CAB filed the petition seeking a stay on BERC hearings on proposed gas price
hike on Feb 27. It argued that the BERC was holding the hearings between Mar 11 and Mar 14 when a previous High Court bench was yet to pass orders on a set of rules on hiked prices of gas set by the commission on Oct 16 last year.
The association alleged the authorities did not follow the rules to raise gas price and the hike in reality aims to benefit a certain quarter.
After hearing the petition, the court set Sunday for the order, but kept it pending again.
“The court said it will look into the matter after the BERC issues the order (on gas price hike). I will not have to file a new case. It means the court has the scope of observe what the (BERC) order comes out,” Jyotirmoy Barua, the lawyer for the petitioner, told bdnews24.com.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar represented the state while Kamal Hossain Miaji argued for the BERC.
Barua also said the court ordered inclusion of the ACC as a party to the case after seeing a 2014 ACC report on corruption at Petrobangla and Titas he had submitted to the court.
The court did not pass any interim order because the BERC was yet to make any final decision, Deputy Attorney General Bashar said.
“The court said it will be able to give a stay order if they (petitioners) feel aggrieved and subsequently move the court when the BERC takes the decision (on gas price). They (BERC) can also take a good decision,” he said.
There will be no need for gas price hike if corruption in Petrobangla and Titas can be halved, the High Court has said.
The court says gas prices in Bangladesh should be adjusted with the international market.
Why Bangladesh should buy gas at a price higher than India, it asked, hearing a writ petition filed by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh or CAB on Sunday.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and KM Kamrul Kader expressed ire over the Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC’s role in preventing corruption in the state firms Petrobangla and Titas.
The court wondered why the ACC, despite being an independent agency, sought permission from the high-ups of the firms to investigate allegations of corruption.
It ordered inclusion of the commission as a party to the case.
The court also ordered Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission or BERC to submit a report on Bangladesh’s gas import.
CAB filed the petition seeking a stay on BERC hearings on proposed gas price
hike on Feb 27. It argued that the BERC was holding the hearings between Mar 11 and Mar 14 when a previous High Court bench was yet to pass orders on a set of rules on hiked prices of gas set by the commission on Oct 16 last year.
The association alleged the authorities did not follow the rules to raise gas price and the hike in reality aims to benefit a certain quarter.
After hearing the petition, the court set Sunday for the order, but kept it pending again.
“The court said it will look into the matter after the BERC issues the order (on gas price hike). I will not have to file a new case. It means the court has the scope of observe what the (BERC) order comes out,” Jyotirmoy Barua, the lawyer for the petitioner, told bdnews24.com.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar represented the state while Kamal Hossain Miaji argued for the BERC.
Barua also said the court ordered inclusion of the ACC as a party to the case after seeing a 2014 ACC report on corruption at Petrobangla and Titas he had submitted to the court.
The court did not pass any interim order because the BERC was yet to make any final decision, Deputy Attorney General Bashar said.
“The court said it will be able to give a stay order if they (petitioners) feel aggrieved and subsequently move the court when the BERC takes the decision (on gas price). They (BERC) can also take a good decision,” he said.
