President promulgates Privatisation Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2023

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated the Privatisation Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 on Thursday.

The ordinance is promulgated to end unnecessary delays in privatisation, resolve issues and ensure the implementation of principles of law and justice. It will also help establish the Appellate Tribunal. The “Privatisation Commission Ordinance 2000” has been amended from Section 28 to Section 33 of the ordinance.

The purpose of the ordinance is to establish a Privatisation Appellate Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal shall have jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate civil and criminal matters relating to privatisation. The powers given to the high courts in the “Privatisation Commission Ordinance 2000” have now been transferred to the Privatisation Appellate Tribunal. Before the ordinance, all high courts had concurrent jurisdiction over privatisation cases. Under the ordinance, the federal government will establish a three-member Privatisation Appellate Tribunal.

The president passed the amending ordinance proposed by the government after Sub-section 2 (4) of Section 28 was changed. The president has changed the proposed government ordinance to appoint a retired judge of the Supreme Court instead of a retired judge of the high court as the Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal.

Under the ordinance, a retired judge of the Supreme Court will be the Chairperson of the Privatisation Tribunal. The Appellate Tribunal shall have one technical member and one judicial member. The Supreme Court of Pakistan will have jurisdiction to hear appeals against the decisions of the Appellate Tribunal. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Privatisation Appellate Tribunal may file an appeal before the Supreme Court within 60 days. Sections 30 and 33 of the Privatisation Commission Ordinance 2000 are repealed. The president issued the ordinance under Article 89-1 of the Constitution.