Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Saturday said it was fundamentally important to strengthen regulatory institutions in the country as he stressed the need for sustainable policies to promote business prosperity and facilitate investors.

Addressing a symposium in Islamabad today, the top judge underscored the need for the authorities to establish a “requisite environment” for progress. He emphasised that certain crucial elements must be in place to facilitate the desired growth and development.

“Don’t surprise a businessman if you want business to thrive in this country. And particularly the tax regime that must be reliable and consistent because you cannot cut the tree if you are basically looking for the fruit,” he said.

CJP Bandial emphasised the importance of ensuring a “level-playing field” for investors, highlighting that industries with monopolies deter big investors from competing.

He further stressed the need for shareholder protection, citing experiences of winding up petitions faced by majority shareholders.

The chief justice also called for safeguards for minority shareholders and addressed the need to curb dishonesty by management and majority shareholders.

“We need protection for the minority shareholder. And then the small shareholder on the stock exchange also.”

In addition, he emphasised the significance of revenue authorities as another beneficiary, urging the need to instill integrity in the system.

He acknowledged that within the corporate system, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has a regulatory role, while outside the corporate system, there is a responsibility to influence policy and raise awareness to government entities and departments about potential disruptions to the environment.

“Do you know if you look back into history, our governments used to prepare five year economic programs. That was because it provided certainty. Today we don’t do that. And because we deal with such issues and consider different options available to solve a problem, he told the gathering.

Courts must support ‘constitutional body’ ECP

The CJP highlighted the significance of regulatory bodies and constitutional bodies during his address. “I mean the Election Commission of Pakistan is a constitutional body. We have to as courts of law support the ECP.”

He also stressed importance of learning new tech and artitificial intelligence.

“I am not good at IT. So I can maybe operate the computer but that’s about all. I believe [Chat GPT] is excellent but I haven’t ventured into it but some of my younger colleagues are doing it. So we need to build capacity,” the top judge said.

CJP Bandial also mentioned the underutilisation of services by another constitutional body that holds jurisdiction across the country, including provinces and the federation.

He specifically highlighted the importance of strengthening the auditor general of Pakistan to enable independent account checks for accountability purposes.

He pointed out that delayed discovery of financial irregularities often occurs, highlighting the need for skilled personnel in regulatory bodies, courts, and other institutions, rather than solely relying on numbers to assess capacity.

We have to make him [AGP] strong so that he can go and check the accounts on his own because whenever you have an issue about accountability it goes into the accounts.“