Judiciary, executive spar over levy

Islamabad: A judiciary-executive tussle appeared to be developing in Pakistan after the Supreme Court suspended a levy on petroleum products approved by the parliament.

The government complied with Tuesday's judicial order to suspend the so-called carbon surcharge and its oil and gas regulatory body notified reduced prices of petroleum products.

But yesterday President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated an ordinance for a petroleum levy and the regulatory body immediately re-imposed the previous enhanced prices.

The widely welcomed relief to the public on fuel prices because of the court decision was available only for a day.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, talking to the media, said the government had respected the judicial order about carbon surcharge.

At the same time the supremacy of the parliament - which had unanimously approved the carbon surcharge during the passage of the budget last month - had been upheld through the ordinance, he said.

The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif strongly criticised the ordinance, which under the constitution would remain valid for 120 days.

PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal termed the ordinance a "contempt of court and onslaught on the independence of the judiciary." He vowed the party would struggle for withdrawal of the decree.

Religious-political Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehreek e Insaaf party of cricket legend Imran Khan said they would hold protest demonstrations.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilan told the media the ordinance had been issued on his advice.

Gilani said the government had to take "hard decisions" sometimes in order to balance the budget. He said the government fully respected the judiciary and would abide by its verdicts.

The carbon surcharge suspension was ordered Tuesday by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

The bench adjourned for four weeks the hearing of petitions about petroleum prices.

Attorney General Latif Khan Khosa told the court that the government had already revoked the charbon surcharge through the ordinance.

The bench observed that an application filed by PML-N Iqbal Zafar Jhagra about the carbon surcharge had become ineffective but hearing on petitions about petroleum prices would be resumed after the four-week adjournment. Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry, counsel for the Jhagra, said that the ordinance would be challenged at the Supreme Court in the coming days.