NA body passes Criminal Law Bill 2011

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum & Natural Resources on Tuesday passed "The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2011" unanimously.

The Committee met with Sardar Talib Hassan Nakai in the chair. The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Senator Dr Asim Hussain.

The law envisages different rigorous imprisonment from 5 to 14 year terms to the violators against different offences of oil and gas ranging from domestic consumers to industrial and commercial consumers, said a press release.

The offences include tempering with petroleum pipelines, tempering with auxiliary or distribution pipelines of petroleum, tampering with gas meter and damaging or destructing the transmission or transportation lines.

Elaborating the need to make the law, the Federal Minister said that in order to maintain and ensure the smooth supply of oil and gas and functioning of the oil and gas pipelines and facilities, it is expedient to create a comprehensive legislative instrument.

Such instrument can curb the practices of oil and gas theft and pilferage and abuse of lawful connections of oil and gas through numerous means and to provide for adequate punishment proportionate with the gravity of offence, to halt damage or destruction of oil and gas pipelines by acts of subversion' and to protect the assets of national significance.

The meeting was attended by Members of National Assembly Syed Haider Ali Shah, Dr. Donya Aziz, Abdul Waseem, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Ch. Asghar Ali Jatt, Ch. Mohammad Barjees Tahir, Khurram Jehangir Wattoo and Mrs Shehnaz Sheikh and officials of the ministries of Petroleum & Natural Resources and Law & Justice and Oil and Gas Regularity Authority.