The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of an appeal by Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) against the orders of Sindh High Court (SHC) which restricted the Commission from taking any coercive action against the Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) for cartelisation.
The case was adjourned because Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was not available on the bench. The CCP had filed a petition under Article 185(3) of the constitution for grant of leave to appeal against the order of SHC issued on May 27, 2008.
The Commission took the stand that the high court being in Karachi had no jurisdiction to entertain and grant interim relief when penalty was imposed against the association in Islamabad. By granting the relief, the appeal contended, the high court had acted against the well settled principle declared by the apex court in many cases.
Moreover, the petition of the PBA was also not maintainable as the association had failed to avail the adequate remedy of filing the appeal before the appellate bench of the Commission under Section 41 of the Ordinance, the appeal said.
The PBA consists of scheduled banks in the country that include Habib Bank of Pakistan, Allied Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Saudi Pak Commercial Bank Ltd, Atlas Bank Ltd, National Bank of Pakistan, MCB Bank Ltd, ABN Amro Bank (Pakistan) Ltd, NIB Bank Ltd and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of Pakistan Ltd.