The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that the government had no intention to purchase $800 million assets of British Petroleum. A counsel for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), apprised the court that they had no intention to purchase the assets of British Petroleum (BP).
He assured the court that his clients would not buy the assets at higher prices as their bidding was already low, which had not been entertained. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry disposed of the petition, which was filed by former Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed.
Qazi had filed a plea against the government's bid to purchase its sold out assets from the British Petroleum (BP) at higher rates, and claimed that it would cause a loss of $800 million to the national exchequer. His counsel had contended that the government had first sold the assets to the same company at a low price and now was buying it at an exorbitant price.
The petitioner had prayed the court to direct DG Petroleum and OGDC to explain as to why they have felt need to purchase the assets at higher rate. The government earlier sold out these assets at lower rates to British Petroleum and now it wants to purchase again these sold out assets at higher cost, he added.