Lahore High Court denies request to halt proceedings on poultry price-fixing case involving eight hatcheries.
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has dismissed a request to halt the proceedings of the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) in a high-profile case involving Rs155 million in fines for poultry cartelisation. The case concerns allegations of price-fixing by eight poultry hatcheries and the Poultry Association of Pakistan over the price of day-old broiler chicks.
The decision, made in response to petitions filed by Supreme Farms (Private) Limited and Sabir Poultry, allows the CAT to continue hearing appeals against an order from the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP). The petitioners had sought a suspension of the tribunal’s proceedings until the court could rule on the constitutional challenges raised by them. However, the court clarified that while it would hear the constitutional petitions on their merits, the tribunal’s work could proceed.
Supreme Farms had questioned the constitutionality of Sections 34 and 53 of the Competition Act, 2010, which grant the CCP powers to conduct inspections and searches and request assistance from other authorities in evidence collection. The company also sought a ban on the use of forensic evidence gathered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and data from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), which were integral to the CCP’s findings.
The CCP had imposed penalties on eight major poultry hatcheries and the poultry association in April 2025, following a suo motu inquiry that found evidence of coordinated price-fixing among the companies. Sabir Poultry filed a separate petition, echoing similar concerns regarding the use of mobile phone data and PTA records.
The poultry companies named in the CCP’s order, including Sadiq Poultry, Hi-Tech Group, Olympia Group, Jadeed Group, and others, were found to have violated Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010. These violations led to the imposition of the Rs155 million fine. This legal development underscores the growing efforts of the CCP to tackle cartel behaviour in Pakistan’s critical sectors, such as the poultry industry.
