HC to hear plea seeking formula of petrol pricing on Wednesday

The Delhi High Court will hear on Wednesday an application seeking direction to the Central government to disclose the formula on the basis of which daily prices of petroleum and diesel are fixed.

The plea will be heard by a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao.

The application, filed by Delhi-based designer Pooja Mahajan through her advocate A. Maitri, has sought direction to call the records from the government including oil companies to disclose the formula and to furnish the details on the basis of which the daily fuel prices are fixed.

The petitioner said that people were suffering irreparably because prices were being enhanced on presumption.

The advocate said that the oil manufacturing companies were selling their old stock of petrol and diesel at enhanced prices while admittedly the said stock was purchased at a cheaper rate.

As per official claims, petrol and diesel prices are fixed on account of increase in international prices. Admittedly, international price of crude oil is fixed on barrel basis, the plea said.

"Barrel is a unit of mass meaning thereby that crude oil is being sold in international market on mass/weight of the crude oil but here in India and diesel are being sold on liter basis, without taking care of density/mass of petrol/diesel," the plea said.

"On account of above stated methodology being followed all over India, public at large is suffering every day as they are paying the enhanced cost on barrel basis but in return their getting the liquid petrol/liquid diesel on volume basis."

The application was filed on the pending public interest litigation by the petitioner in which she has sought direction to the Central government to fix a "fair price" of petrol and diesel as it is a policy matter which involved larger economic issues.

The court asked the government to consider an earlier representation pending before it on price rise of petrol and diesel.

Mahajan had filed a similar plea in July but the High Court had then directed the Centre to treat the PIL as a representation.

The petitioner has sought a directive to the Central government to fix a "fair price" of petrol and diesel in line with the Essential Commodities Act.

--IANS

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