Pakistan: Fuel price hike sparks legal community anger as Chakwal lawyers boycott courts

Chakwal [Pakistan] September 13 (ANI): Lawyers in Chakwal boycotted court proceedings and staged demonstrations to protest the government’s latest increase in petroleum prices, describing the hike as another burden on citizens already facing rising living costs, as reported by ARY News.
According to ARY News, the protest was organised on the call of the District Bar Association Chakwal. Lawyers stayed away from court appearances as part of the strike and called on the government to immediately withdraw the increase in fuel prices. The protesting lawyers argued that repeated increases in petroleum prices were worsening economic difficulties for ordinary people as well as members of the legal profession. They stated that expensive fuel would raise transportation expenses and could trigger another wave of price increases for essential commodities. The District Bar Association demanded that the government reverse the latest petroleum price adjustment and introduce measures to provide relief to the public. The protest comes after the federal government announced another increase in fuel prices. Petrol was raised by Rs5.02 per litre, while the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) increased by Rs5.28 per litre. Following the latest adjustment, the price of petrol reached Rs375.82 per litre, adding to concerns over the impact of rising fuel costs on household budgets, transporters and businesses.
Meanwhile, the latest increase has also become the subject of a legal challenge in the Lahore High Court (LHC). A constitutional petition was filed by Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique, seeking the withdrawal of the recent increase and immediate relief for consumers, as cited by ARY News.
The petitioner maintained that petrol and diesel prices had risen sharply within a short period, claiming that petrol had increased by more than Rs30 per litre and diesel by over Rs25 per litre within a week. The petition also questioned Pakistan’s fuel pricing structure, arguing that petroleum products were more expensive in the country than in several other regional states, as reported by ARY News. (ANI)