LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Wednesday directed the federal government to inform whether the cabinet had approved transferring administrative control of four regulatory authorities to the respective ministries.
The chief justice ordered a law officer of the federal government to inform the court by January 10 whether the approval of the cabinet was sought for this action.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Sheraz Zaka challenging the government notification of giving control of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to their respective ministries.
The petitioner stated that through a notification, the transfer of administrative control of these regulatory authorities to ministries was against the law. He said that the impugned notification was issued without getting approval from the Council or Common Interest (CCI) and the cabinet.
He claimed that the impugned notification was in violation of Article 154 of the constitution. He requested that since the impugned notification was issued without fulfilling the legal requirement, it should be declared null and void.
A deputy attorney general said that the petition was not maintainable. He claimed that approval of the CCI was not required for the transfer of the regulatory authorities.
