SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LTD. vs SAIF TEXTILE MILLS LTD — 2021 SCMR 1395 SUPREME-COURT

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SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LTD. VS SAIF TEXTILE MILLS LTD. Ss. 2(c) & 2(j)---Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 185(3)---Petition for leave to appeal---Textile unit (respondent) powered by natural gas supplied by petitioner-Gas company---Shortfall in gas meter reading causing loss to exchequer---Respondent filed Constitutional petition before the High Court against the petitioner-company, seeking multiple declarations and prayers; the High Court, however, transmitted the Constitutional petition to the District and Sessions Judge/Tribunal Protection Consumer Interest to redress respondent's grievance; it also restrained the department from disconnecting the gas connection---Sessions Judge transferred the complaint to the Consumer Court, which dismissed the complaint---However, the High Court, once again remanded it for decision afresh to the Consumer Court, which dismissed the complaint for the second time---Appeal was filed by respondent before the High Court against dismissal of his complaint, which appeal was allowed, judgment of the Consumer Court was set-aside and the complaint was allowed---Counsel for the petitioner-company contended that there was no occasion for the High Court, in the first place, to transmit the Constitution petition involving factual controversies requiring technical verification for determination to the Consumer Court and, thus, on each occasion the Consumer Court rightly dismissed the complaint; that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Consumers Protection Act, 1997 ('the Act') was a statute devised to protect legitimate rights of a consumer to have best value for his money and for that it placed specified obligations upon the manufacturer; that the respondent was not a consumer nor the petitioner a manufacturer within the contemplation of Ss. 2(c) & 2(j) of the Act and, thus, the High Court had misdirected itself to refer the issue to the Court, an error rectified through successive dismissals leaving no space for the High Court to allow the complaint by putting at peril a colossal amount due to the public exchequer---Supreme Court observed that contentions raised by the counsel for petitioner-company needed consideration, therefore leave was granted.

SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LTD. vs SAIF TEXTILE MILLS LTD — 2021 SCMR 1395 SUPREME-COURT

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