KARACHI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN Rr

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KARACHI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY VS FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN Rr. 2(b), 2(g), 11(7), 18(3) & 21(5)---Elections for Members of the Executive Committee of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, matter of---Authority, powers of---Petitioner (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) assailed three orders made ('impugned orders') by the Director General of Trade Organizations ('the DGTO') being regulator in the buildup to the election of 30 members of the Executive Committee ('the Committee') of the petitioner for the years 2024-26 ('the Election')---Directions to the petitioner by the DGTO through impugned orders included sharing the voters list for the years 2024-26 election according to their class of membership along with the details; reversion of security fee from Rs.100,000/- to Rs.15,000/- for contesting candidates ; mode of polling for the election ; submitting a report as to compliance of the earlier orders---Contention of the petitioner was that the impugned orders were illegal and had been made without jurisdiction or justification so as to create unnecessary hurdles in the process of the election, the schedule of which had already been announced by the three-member election commission and the matter had since proceeded to an advanced stage---Validity---Perusal of the Articles of Association of the petitioner reflected that it specifically contemplated that its membership will be of two classes, namely (i) Associate Members and (ii) Corporate Members, while an "Associate Member" being defined as "a Member of the Chamber which is not a body corporate or a multinational or a sales tax registered manufacturing concern or sales-tax-registered business concern having annual turn- over of not less than fifty million Rupees", and a "Corporate Member" being defined to mean "a member of the Chamber which is either a body corporate or a multinational corporation with its heads office or branch office in Pakistan or a sales-tax registered manufacturing concern or a sales-tax registered business concern having annual turn-over of not less than fifty million Rupees"---Requirement of such class distinction is also prevalent in terms of R. 11(7) of Trade Organizations Rules, 2013 ('the Rules, 2013'), stipulating that "there shall be two classes of memberships in a trade organization, except chamber of small traders and association of small traders"---Rule 21(5), to the extent relevant from the standpoint of the petitioner , envisages that "at least fifty per cent of members of the executive committee shall be from the corporate class" and that "the electoral college for each class of members of the executive committee shall be members of the general body from the respective class", with the definitions of the two classes for purpose of the Rules in terms of Rr.2(b) and (g) of the Rules, 2013 being in consonance with the definitions encapsulated in the Articles--- Admittedly, the enhancement of security deposit and provision for electronic voting had not been approved through the DGTO and/or incorporated in its Memorandum and Articles of Association of the petitioner---Constitutional petition, being merit-less, was dismissed, in circumstances.

KARACHI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN Rr — 2025 CLD 73 KARACHI-HIGH-COURT-SINDH

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