Constitution of 'Competition Appellate Tribunal' approved by Prime Minister

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved the constitution of an independent 'Competition Appellate Tribunal' and appointed Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, former judge Supreme Court of Pakistan as Chairman of the tribunal.
According to a statement issued by Prime Minister's House here on Friday, the prime minister has also approved the Constitution of the Competition Appellate Tribunal in terms of section 43 of Competition Act, 2010.
Under section 43 of the Competition Act, 2010, "as soon as may be within 30 days of the commencement of this Act, the federal government shall constitute the Competition Appellate Tribunal which shall consist of a Chairperson who shall be a person who has been a judge of the Supreme Court or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court and two technical members who shall be persons of ability, integrity and have special knowledge and professional experience of not less than 10 years in international trade, economics, law, finance and accountancy."
The chairperson and members will hold office for a period of three years and will be eligible for reappointment for a similar term and will cease to hold office on attaining the age of sixty-eight years or the expiry of the term whichever is earlier. The chairperson and the members will be entitled to such salary and other terms and conditions of service as the Federal Government rules prescribe.
The Competition Appellate Tribunal may, in consultation with the Federal Government, make rules and governing procedures in proceedings before the Tribunal.
The Competition Appellate Tribunal will decide an appeal expeditiously within six months of its presentation to the Tribunal.
Appeal to Supreme Court. Any person aggrieved by an order of the Competition Appellate Tribunal may prefer an appeal in Supreme Court within sixty days, Competition Act added.
In the past, the CCP had reportedly informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that the appeal system was time consuming because the process includes Appellate Bench and courts. There should be an independent Appellate Tribunal and the final appeal should be with the Supreme Court. The CCP completely agree that delay must not be tolerated while dispensing of matters related to an area as important as competition.
This is the very reason the CCP advocated a direct appeal to the Supreme Court. Five reasons deserve a mention:
The SC, being a court of unlimited jurisdiction, has the capacity as well as the jurisdiction to deal with competition related matters after decisions of the Appellate Bench/ Tribunal. The model jurisdiction for all federations with a written constitution, the United States also provides a direct appeal to the Supreme Court from the decision of the Federal District Court in anti-trust matters of public importance. The proceedings should not be protracted unnecessarily and a leave with appeal to the Supreme Court from a decision of the Appellate Tribunal can achieve this.
The sooner organisations such as CCP receive judicial enforcement from the apex court, the speedier the effectiveness of the law in the courts will be. Appeals before High Courts of each province will possibly lead to conflicting judgements and needless multiplicity of proceedings. This is neither time efficient nor cost effective for a public sector organisation, CCP said. Decisions made by CCP, undoubtedly affect matters of public importance. The apex Court of the land should settle such matters at the earliest allowing all relevant stakeholders (including CCP) to take any corrective measures.
If the legislation does set up an Appellate Tribunal then it should provide for a fast-track method; the law should provide for the maximum number of days within which the Appellate Tribunal will have to make its decision, CCP added.