IHC annuls appointments of CCP chief, members.

Byline: Malik Asad

ISLAMABAD -- The IslamAabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday declared the appointment of Vidya Khalil as chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and Dr Mohammad Saleem and Dr Shahzad Ansar as its members unconstitutional.

An IHC division bench headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah announced the verdict on an appeal filed by the federal government against an earlier order that had reinstated Ms Khalil, Mr Saleem and Mr Ansar.

The government had filed the intra-court appeal against the decision of an IHC single member bench that had set aside the termination of the services of the CCP chief and members.

On Oct 15, 2018 the federal government had ordered removal of the CCP chairperson and members.

The notifications for their removal were issued after a decision taken by the federal cabinet at its meeting on Oct 4, 2018.

Ms Khalil was initially appointed a member of the CCP for three years vide a notification dated Dec 17, 2014. She was later appointed CCP chairperson vide a notification issued on Dec 23, 2014. As her term expired on Dec 2, 2017, she was recommended to be reappointed as a member and chairperson of the CCP for another term of three years. She was reappointed vide a notification dated Dec 14, 2017.

Dr Saleem and Dr Ansar had applied for the posts of members of the CCP in response to advertisements published in various newspapers on Feb 26, 2017.

On completion of the selection process they were appointed as members of the CCP vide a notification dated Dec 4, 2017.

However, the reappointment of the chairperson and fresh appointments of the CCP members were not placed before the federal cabinet for consideration and approval. Instead, recommendations in this regard were made by the finance minister and later approval was granted by the then prime minister without intervention of the cabinet.

The court noted that the Supreme Court through its Aug 18, 2016 judgement in the Mustafa Impex case had enunciated the principles and law regarding the interpretation of the expression 'federal government'.

Later, the federal cabinet, at its meeting on Oct 4, 2018, decided to terminate the reappointment of Ms Khalil, Dr Saleem and Dr Ansar as chairperson and members the CCP.

According to the previous judgement of the IHC, the judge held that 'since the tenure of the Respondents was fixed under the law, therefore, the termination was void'.

During the hearings of the appeal, Additional Attorney General Tariq...