LHC refuses to halt tribunal proceedings in Rs155 million poultry cartel case

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has refused to stay proceedings of the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) in the Rs155 million cartelisation case against eight poultry companies and the poultry association for price-fixing of day-old broiler chicks (DOCs), a press release said.

The petitions were filed by Supreme Farms (Private) Limited and Sabir Poultry, seeking to halt CAT proceedings on appeals filed by poultry hatcheries and the poultry association against Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP)’s order. The petitioners requested the court to restrain CAT from deciding the appeals during the pendency of their constitutional challenges.

Supreme Farms challenged the constitutionality of Section 34 of the Competition Act, 2010, which empowers the CCP to enter and search premises, and Section 53, which allows CCP to seek assistance from other authorities and agencies for the collection of evidence.

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According to the press release, the petitioner also sought a stay on CAT proceedings and requested that the tribunal be barred from relying on forensic reports prepared by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and data obtained from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), which were relied upon in its order.

It is pertinent to note that during search and inspection operations, the CCP teams recovered electronic material evidence from the offices of the poultry association and several hatcheries. The materials were later forensically analysed and used by the CCP to pass its order.

Sabir Poultry filed a separate petition before the LHC on similar grounds, requesting the court to restrain CAT from issuing a decision based on evidence obtained from cellular phones and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data. The LHC did not accept the pleas seeking a stay or suspension of CAT proceedings. However, the court will continue to hear the petitions on their merits.

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Earlier, in April this year, the CCP imposed a cumulative penalty of Rs155 million on eight major poultry hatcheries and the poultry association for cartelisation and price-fixing of day-old broiler chicks. The action followed a suo motu inquiry initiated by the CCP into the DOC market.

The inquiry concluded that major hatcheries, including Sadiq Poultry, Hi-Tech Group, Islamabad Group, Olympia Group, Jadeed Group, Supreme Farms (Seasons Group), Big Bird Group, and Sabir’s Group were engaged in coordinated price-fixing, in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.