LAHORE: A Lahore High Court full bench on Wednesday heard a set of petitions pending for around a decade against the establishment of Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and its powers.

LPG Association of Pakistan had filed the first petition in 2009 when the CCP started taking actions against its members in terms of price regulation.

On May 27, 2009 a single LHC bench comprising now retired chief justice Saqib Nisar, then serving in the high court, had granted stay to the association.

Later, associations of different industries including cement, sugar, fertilizers and cellular companies also filed identical petitions in the LHC and got stay against the commission’s actions.

The stay order was challenged by the CCP in appeals accordingly and finally the litigation reached the Supreme Court.

On June 25, 2009, the apex court remanded the whole matter to the high court with a direction to decide it afresh and at the earliest. Since then different full benches had been hearing the matter, but it remained pending for a decision.

Last hearing on the matter was held by LHC full bench headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, now a SC judge, during June 2017.

Now after three years, the full bench comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Shahid Jamil Khan and Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi held its first hearing in the matter the other day.

On Wednesday, the lawyers of some of the petitioners concluded their arguments, while the bench adjourned the hearing for Thursday (today) for arguments of Advocate Salman Akram Raja on behalf of several petitioners.

In this case, the counsel for CCP previously argued that the government had established the commission to abolish cartelisation, control profiteering and to create a competition in the market. However, he said the commission had been dormant to this effect due to the stay order. He said it was unfortunate that very initial actions of the CCP were still under litigation.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2020