The members of the National Assembly’s standing committee on petroleum and natural resources, including senior parliamentarians from the ruling Pakistan Peoples’ Party, got angry when they were simply told by the management that the reports were ‘confidential’.

The committee headed by PML-Q’s Sardar Talib Hussain Nakai was looking into allegations of corruption and irregularities in Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, the country’s largest oil and gas producer. The meeting was held at the ground floor of the 20-storey building of OGDCL, near the parliament building.

But that was not the end of the high drama. Members of the committee unanimously condemned the Tuesday night’s decision by the government to increase the prices of petroleum products and termed it “worst kind of terrorism”. They demanded its immediate withdrawal to provide relief to consumers.