A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a stay order issued by the Sindh High Court wherein the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) was restrained from deciding the matter of imposition of additional tax on incoming calls to the country.
Hearing a contempt of court petition at the Lahore registry, the bench headed by Justice Tasadduq Hussain Jillani passed the order and issued notices to telecom companies for March 27. Some local loop operators had filed the contempt petition and submitted that the SC had directed the CCP to decide the matter after hearing the point of view of all stakeholders (petitioners) and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA).
The petitioners said that some telecom companies had then approached the SHC and got a stay order against proceedings of the CCP by concealing facts.
They said the SHC was not informed about the order of the apex court.
The bench suspended the SHC order and issued notices to the telecom companies.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2013.