Supreme Court Petition Filed Over Cooking Gas Shortage in Kathmandu Valley

A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court regarding the shortage of cooking gas in the Kathmandu Valley. The petition was filed by Roshan Auji and Bibek Chaudhary, students studying in the seventh semester of the BA LLB program at Nepal Law Campus.

The petitioners have demanded an immediate order (Mandamus) against the respondents to ensure the easy availability of gas in the market and to prevent such problems from recurring in the future. The hearing for this writ has been scheduled for Friday.

The petitioners have named the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, and the Nepal Oil Corporation as respondents. Citing data from the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat's 2024 statistics, which indicates that approximately 45.62 percent of people in the Kathmandu Valley depend on LP gas for cooking, the petitioners argued that lack of access to gas is equivalent to depriving citizens of their right to food.

The petition mentions that despite the severe scarcity of gas in the market since the first week of Magh, the Oil Corporation has been claiming there is no shortage, while in reality, consumers have been forced to wander from shop to shop carrying empty cylinders.

The writ petition asserts that the gas shortage constitutes a serious violation of the 'Right to Food' guaranteed by Article 36 and the 'Consumer Rights' under Article 44 of the Constitution.

Citing data from the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat's 2024 statistics, which shows that about 45.62 percent of people in the Kathmandu Valley rely on LP gas for cooking, the petitioners argued that lack of access to gas is tantamount to denying citizens their right to food.

The petition also bases its arguments on the principles established by the Supreme Court in a case involving advocates Prakashmani Sharma and Bhupendra Bahadur Tamang Thingo, which recognized access to food as an integral part of the right to live with dignity.