The Islamabad High Court has delivered a significant judgment (available here), reinforcing the limits of regulatory authority of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP). The Court set aside orders issued by the CCP that required fertilizer companies to disclose information purportedly under Section 36 of the Competition Act, 2010 (the Competition Act).
The Court established several key principles:
– Any action taken by an officer of the CCP, such as calling for information, must be explicitly authorized.
– The CCP is not permitted to conduct “fishing and roving” enquiries and “shoot in the dark” under Section 36 of the Competition Act.
– The CCP must provide reasons explaining why the information is considered “necessary or useful” for the purposes of the Competition Act, disclosing the “nexus of the information called for or causal link with the purposes of the Competition Act” in the general or special order.
This judgment underscores that regulatory power must be exercised with transparency and strictly within the bounds of the law.
Umer Akram Chaudhry appeared for Pakarab Fertilizer Limited and Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited.