The High Court has ordered the relevant authorities to ascertain the amount of gas that has been unlawfully consumed in the previous 12 years in Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, and Gazipur, and to charge the affected consumers for it.
On December 13, in response to a writ petition, the court directed the secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to form a committee consisting of three members, one of whom should be a teacher from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), nominated by the vice-chancellor of the university.
The committee`s task would be to ascertain the quantity and cost of gas within a six-month period.
The finance secretary has been ordered to collect the cost from the consumers under the Public Demand Recovery Act-1993, writ petitioner`s counsel Manzill Murshid said.
The secretary of energy and mineral resources was also instructed by the HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman and Justice Md Atabullah to establish a second, highly capable committee with six members. This committee would look into the claims, identify the officials and contractors implicated, take departmental action and submit a report on all these to the HC in six months.
Simultaneously, the court ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe corruption allegations against the officials and contractors and to take legal action against the offenders.
Following a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) seeking necessary directives the HC bench delivered the verdict.
