President Dr. Arif Alvi signed an order Thursday ending the role of high courts in privatization cases. This was done to avoid “unnecessary delays” in selling state assets and quickly settle disputes.
A statement from the government says that the Privatisation Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 was signed by the president. It also said that the new law had changed Section 28 of the Privatisation Commission law of 2000 to Section 33.
The new ordinance’s goal, according to the president, was to get rid of needless delays in privatisation, settle problems, and make sure that the rules of law and justice were followed.
The ordinance was made public two days after Fawad Hasan Fawad, the minister of privatisation, met with the president and described the purpose of making laws on the spot.
Because of the ad hoc law, the Privatisation Appellate Tribunal was created. It will do the work that high courts used to do.
After the Lahore High Court (LHC) accepted a petition against the plan to privatise Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the interim federal government chose to pass the law.
The government said that the Privatisation Appellate Tribunal would be able to hear and decide on both civil and criminal cases that have to do with privatisation. The Privatisation Commission Ordinance 2000 gave power to high courts. That power has now been given to the Privatisation Appellate Tribunal, the statement said.
One change was made by President Alvi to the draft that had already been passed by the federal cabinet.
After sub-section 2(4) of Section 28 was changed, he passed the law that the government had suggested was changed. It also said that the president changed the planned government ordinance so that the chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal would be a retired judge of the Supreme Court instead of a retired judge of the high court.
Based on the ordinance, the Privatisation Tribunal will now be led by a former judge from the Supreme Court. One person will be a judge and one member will be a technical expert on the Appellate Tribunal. Appeals against decisions made by the Appellate Tribunal will be able to go to the Supreme Court.
Before the law, cases involving privatisation were heard by all high courts at the same time. The law says that the federal government will set up a Privatisation Appellate Tribunal with three members. Anyone who doesn’t agree with the tribunal’s ruling has 60 days to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Through the new law, sections 30 and 33 of the Privatisation Commission law 2000 are thrown out. Article 89-1 of the Constitution says that the president had to make the ordinance.
Earlier this week, Interim Privatisation Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad said that the ordinance’s goal was to give investors confidence to invest by letting them know that there would only be one place to go to settle any legal issues that came up during a transaction, with the option to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The part of the law called Section 28 that let courts hear sale cases has been changed. “The Privatisation Appellate Tribunal, which will be called the Appellate Tribunal from now on,” says the new ad hoc law. “No court other than the Appellate Tribunal shall exercise jurisdiction under this ordinance.”
Laws signed by the president only last for 120 days, but the National Assembly can make them last for another 120 days.
The federal government has been given the power to fire the head of the appellate panel. “The federal government may, by giving at least 30 days’ notice and giving the person a chance to be heard, remove from office the chairperson or a member of the Appellate Tribunal on the grounds that he is physically or mentally unable to do the duties of his office or has been guilty of misconduct,” the approved ordinance said.
The ad hoc laws were made by the government and went into force in 2000.
The ordinance said that the Appellate Tribunal would have the same powers as a civil court or, as the case may be, a criminal court trying a suit or case under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 or the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. This meant that it could hear and make decisions on both civil and criminal cases.
The Appellate Tribunal has the power to call anyone to court and question them under oath. It can also order the finding and production of documents and physical objects, take evidence on affidavits, and issue commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents.
The caretakers have gotten rid of Section 29 and put in place a new one through ad hoc law. “Anyone aggrieved by an order of the Appellate Tribunal may prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court within sixty days of such order,” the new section says.
The government has given its approval for all cases that are still being heard in high courts to be sent to the planned Appellate Tribunal.
