People be taken onboard over fixing power tariff: CJ

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Monday remarked that the government must take people onboard while fixing power tariff, otherwise, people would raise questions on government’s practice of simultaneously undertaking loadshedding and hiking the tariff. A three-member bench of the apex court led by the chief justice heard the loadshedding case. During the proceedings, Chief Justice said that the petition pertaining to set power tariff was filed in July 2012. He questioned National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) as to how the electricity rates are determined. The chairman NEPRA replied that the authority increased the power tariff on the request of the federal government. Meanwhile, Justice Jawad S Khwaja remarked that the court showed patience because the government was itself withdrawing the notification. He said that the common masses could not understand while reading the electricity bills that which tax has been imposed on them. The hearing of the case would resume on Tuesday.