PESHAWAR: The Cabinet Division on Tuesday justified the transfer of the administrative control of five regulators, including the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), from the division to their respective ministries and divisions and said the move was made after the approval of the prime minister in line with the Rules of Business, 1973.

It insisted the prime minister was authorised to order the transfer of a regulatory body from one division to another.

In its comments filed on behalf of a joint secretary, the Cabinet Division requested the Peshawar High Court to dismiss the petition of PTI parliamentary leader in the Senate Nauman Wazir against the placing of the Nepra under the Water and Power Division.

A high court bench consisting of Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Mohammad Ayub Khan extended theinterim relief granted to the petitioner earlier of suspending the federal government order of transferring the administrative control of Nepra from the Cabinet Division to the Water and Power Division.

It fixed Feb 21 for the next hearing into the petition asking the water and power division to file comments on it.

Senator Nauman requested the court to declare illegal a memorandum issued by the Cabinet Division on Dec 19, 2016, about the transfer of the administrative control of five regulatory authorities, to the relevant divisions, especially Nepra`s to the Water and Power Division.

On Jan 31, the court had ruled that until the next hearing, the impugned memorandum would remain suspended to the extent of the Nepra.

Shumail Butt, lawyer for the petitioner, deputy attorney general Mussaratullah Khan represented the federal government, deputy secretary Dr Irum and section officer Kaleem Shahzad appeared for the Cabinet Division, whereas the Nepra and power division were represented by lawyers Hamad Ibrahim and Shakeel Ahmad, respectively.

The petitioner`s lawyer said the Cabinet Division in an illegal and unlawful manner had issued the `memorandum No.

7-2/2016-Min-I dated 19.12.2016, wherebyalongside a few other regulatory authorities, administrative control of Nepra was transferred from Cabinet Division to the Water and Power Division, making the water and power secretary a de facto head of Nepra and thus compromised its regulatory independence with a single stroke of pen.

He said the ministry of water and power was disgruntled by consumer-friendly decisions of the Nepra and that its secretary had been publicly complaining to the prime minister that Nepra was a stumbling block to the execution of its policies and must be tamed.

The lawyer said as regulatory bodies and more particularly the Nepra being power regulator comes within the domain of CCI.

He said the impugned decision made without the approval of the CCI was a glaring violation of Articles 153 and 154 of the Constitution read with the Fourth Schedule.

In the comments on the petition, the Cabinet Division said the independence and autonomy of the authorities including Nepra were enshrined in their statutes and that no change had been made in its statutes.

`They continue to be as independent and autonomous as before and as a conse-quence thereof no conflict of interest will arise.

The Cabinet Division said the Nepra chairman and members had been given certain safeguards to ensure their autonomy and independence in terms of the Nepra Act, 1997.

It said the regulatory authorities were included in the Federal Legislative List Part-II and that in terms of Article 154(1) of the Constitution, the CCI should formulate policies in relation to matter in Part-II.

The Cabinet Division, however, said the transfer of regulatory authorities in the instant case was an administrative measure, which was within the ambit of the prime minister in terms of Rule 3(3) of the Rules of Business, 1973.

It said it was the prerogative of the prime minister to transfer a regulatory authority f rom one division to another.

Through the impugned memorandum apart from Nepra, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority was placed under the Petroleum and Natural Resources Division, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Frequency Allocation Board under the Information Technology and Telecom division and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority under the Finance Division.