Additional secretary, Ministry of Finance, stated that in terms of Section 14(2) of the Competition Act, 2010, the members are appointed by the federal government and from amongst the members of the Commission, the federal government appoints the chairperson. Under Section 17 of the Competition Act, 2010, the chairman and members of the commission are eligible for reappointment for such term or terms but shall cease to hold office on attaining the age of sixty-five years or the expiry of the term whichever is earlier.
The federal government has been designated as the appointing authority under Section 14(2) of the Competition Act, 2010. In terms of judgment of the Supreme Court Pakistan in Civil appeals No 1428 to 1436 of 2016 dated August 18, 2016 "the federal government" means "the federal cabinet".
However, the federal cabinet in its decision, dated February 07, 2017, had delegated federal government's power of appointment to the finance minister with the concurrence of the Prime Minister whereby they can appoint CEOs of corporations, statutory bodies, autonomous and semi autonomous bodies attached to the Finance Division.
In view of the foregoing, the recent appointments/re-appointments of members/chairperson, CCP are in line with the decision of the federal cabinet. However, Law Division did not agree to the Finance Division's viewpoint that the federal cabinet can delegate its power to the Finance Minister for appointments in the CCP.
The meeting also informed that CCP was established in 2007 under Competition Ordinance, 2007 which was later replaced by Competition Act, 2010. It is a body corporate established to enforce free competition in all spheres of economic and commercial activity, to enhance economic efficiency and to protect the consumers from anticompetitive behavior. The Commission comprises five members including the chairperson.