ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ruled that Gas Utility Court is specifically constituted to settle disputes and complaints brought by the Gas Utility Company and the consumer, vice versa.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi heard the appeal of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL), Islamabad against the judgment of Islamabad High Court, which held that the issues of over-billing, including overcharging of Gas Calorific Value (GCV), penalties, and estimated bills due to meter stoppage, fall within the scope of Section 6 of the Gas (Theft, Control & Recovery) Act, 2016.
The respondents (consumers) had instituted suits for Declaration, Permanent & Mandatory Injunction, and recovery of undue excessive amounts in monthly gas bills against the petitioner (SNGPL) before the Judge, Gas Utility Court, Islamabad.
However, the trial court (Gas Utility Court) observed that an alternate remedy was available to the respondents and rejected the plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”), vide its judgment dated 29.03.2018. The respondents preferred their First Appeal against Order (FAO) before the Islamabad High Court, which allowed the appeals and remanded the matter to the Gas Utility Court to decide the lawsuits on merits.
All matters under the Gas Act: Gas Utility Court has exclusive jurisdiction: SC
The judgment, authored by Justice Mazhar, said that Section 6 of the 2016 Act provides both Gas Utility Companies and consumers with an equitable and expeditious remedy for filing a complaint or suit, as the case may be, for resolving disputes regarding billing or metering.
It noted that the trial court, while rejecting the plaint on its own motion, heavily relied on the preamble of the 2016 Act, which in fact accentuates the prosecution of cases of gas theft and related offences, as well as, the expeditious recovery of amounts due, value of gas, fines, penalties, and other outstanding amounts payable and sums due to Gas Utility Companies.
It said that by virtue of Section 4 of the 2016 Act, the Gas Utility Court has exclusive jurisdiction with respect to all matters covered by this Act and the Court having jurisdiction under this Act shall be a Gas Utility Court having jurisdiction in the place in which the Gas Utility Company, consumer, gas producer or offender, as the case may be, is situated. While Section 5 of the 2016 Act confers upon the Gas Utility Court all the powers vested in a Civil Court under the CPC, and all the powers vested in a Court of Sessions under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (CrPC).
All proceedings before a Gas Utility Court are deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of Sections 193 and 228 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, and a Gas Utility Court shall be deemed to be a Court for the purposes of the CrPC. An overriding clause is also provided in the same Section, that no court or authority shall have or exercise any jurisdiction with respect to any matter to which the jurisdiction of a Gas Utility Court extends under this Act.
The judgment said that the right of a Gas Utility Company and a gas consumer to seek any remedy before any other court, tribunal, or forum, including official liquidator or receiver that may otherwise be available to it under the law, is not affected, the Section also provides for the immediate transfer of cases to a Gas Utility Court of any proceeding pending before any such court, before the coming into force of this Act, and all proceedings pending in any other court, including suits for recovery, shall stand transferred to, or be deemed to be transferred to, and heard and disposed of by the Gas Utility Court having jurisdiction under this Act, upon the transfer of proceedings.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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