Zubair Qureshi
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday dismissed Vadiyya Khalil as chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) along with two other members. In October 2018, the federal cabinet had dismissed Khalil and the two members of CCP due to accusations for nepotism and corruption.
However, in February 2020, a single bench of the IHC annulled the notification of dismissal and reinstated them with immediate effect. The federal government however filed an intra-court appeal against the decision of the single bench of the high court, which was sustained.
A division bench of the IHC comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amer Farooq on Thursday announced the reserved judgment upholding the government’s notification and dismissing the CCP’s high-ups appeal.
The IHC decision gave the government a face-saving as only two days earlier, on April 21, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had informed that the cabinet approved reconstitution of the commission.
“In the past, the Competition Commission has been protecting certain people,” she said. “Against which 27 petitions have been filed. The stakeholders of the Competition Commission have to return Rs27 billion,” she had further said.
Ms Khalil had previously served as a CCP member from 2010 to 2013 where she was overseeing the mergers and acquisitions and advocacy functions of the commission. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to strengthen the CCP in a bid to tighten the noose around cartels for recovering the penalties imposed on them.
