Islamabad High Court upholds Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s investigative mandate under the Securities Act

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) published a press release on an Islamabad High Court judgment that dismissed a writ petition challenging the SECP’s investigation proceedings under the Securities Act, 2015 in a suspected market manipulation matter. The Court held that the SECP acted within its legislative authority and that judicial intervention at the investigation stage would impede the regulator’s statutory functions. The case related to trading in the shares of a listed company where the share price was inflated by approximately 236% between December 13, 2013 and October 04, 2016. Petitioners who had been served notices to appear before the investigation team did not comply and instead sought relief through constitutional jurisdiction; the Court found the notices lawful, detailed, and not adverse or final orders, as they sought clarifications. It also held that the SECP’s powers under Sections 137 and 139 are procedural, can be applied retrospectively, and do not violate Article 12 of the Constitution, and that the Article 13(1)(b) protection against self-incrimination does not extend to regulatory investigations where information is required for supervisory purposes. With the petition dismissed, the constitutional challenge to the SECP’s ongoing investigation proceedings was removed.