SNGPL Terms Defamation Claim by Jazz Baseless, Asks Telco Giant to Pay Fine

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) rubbished the defamation claim made by Jazz and reiterated that gas was being used to provide electricity to the mobile tower at the Karak site in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a statement, the company termed the defamation claim as baseless and said it strongly believes in business ethics. The statement once again highlighted that the SNGPL team raided the mobile tower of Jazz in Karak in the presence of law enforcement agencies. It further said that diesel generators at the mobile tower were not functional and gas was used to provide electricity to the tower. SNGPL said that it has sent a recovery notice of Rs. 3.7 million for damaging the company’s network as well as a national kitty. The gas company warned that it reserves the right to legal action in case of non-payment of Rs. 3.7 million and said it would not tolerate any damage to national resources. Earlier, Jazz, Pakistan’s largest digital operator, served the gas company with a Rs. 10 billion defamation notice in response to what it calls “baseless allegations” of gas theft by SNGPL. “Jazz has reiterated its stance that there’s no provision for natural gas use at any of its network sites across the country, a fact that is also corroborated by the picture of the diesel generator that SNGPL itself shared in its X (formerly Twitter) post on the matter,” the company said in a statement. “Accusing Jazz of gas theft at one of its sites is frivolous and lacks merit. SNGPL’s allegation against Jazz, which is a significant contributor to the national economy, holds no basis. Moreover, baseless accusations like this can undermine investor confidence and potentially have a negative impact on the country’s economy,” it added.