Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
The Islamabad High Court has issued an order upholding the constitutionality of the Competition Act, 2010 and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP).
Justice Babar Sattar of the IHC announced the decision according to which the Parliament is the competent legislature to promulgate laws to regulate trade, commerce across provinces and within any part of Pakistan under Article 151 of the Constitution
The order was issued in WP 4942/2010 titled ‘Islamabad Feeds and others v Federation of Pakistan and others.
Since the Competition Act, 2010 is a law that regulates the individual right to engage in trade and business in the interest of competition in order to provide for free trade, commerce and intercourse throughout Pakistan, the Parliament is competent to promulgate such law, the IHC has upheld in its order.
In other words, the Federation of Pakistan has the legislative competence to promulgate the Competition Act, 2010 and consequently the Competition Act, 2010 is intra vires the constitution.
This order of the Islamabad High Court adds on to the unanimous view of a three-member Lahore High Court bench that has already declared, through its decision in WP 9518/2009 titled ‘LPGAP v Federation of Pakistan, the Competition Act, 2010 as within the legislative competence of the Parliament. As a result, there remains no doubt as to the constitutionality of the Competition Act, 2010.
This is a welcome outcome of an otherwise protracted constitutional litigation imposed on the Federation of Pakistan and the Competition Commission of Pakistan since the latter’s inception in 2007 by various business undertakings that were facing action under the law for anti-competitive behaviour.
