Finality

Appeal before the Appellate Bench of the Commission was filed against an order having been passed by the Commission in year 2023, under S.464(4)(b) of the Companies Act , 2017

Contention of the appellant was that by virtue of S.464(5) of the Companies Act, 2017, only the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts and other authorities is excluded

Validity

Contention of the appellant is misconceived in the context of the overall regime of the company law as there are only three provisions in the Companies Act, 2017, i.e. Ss.10(7), 16(10) & 464(5), where orders passed by the Commission attain finality

Owing to the nature of the subject matter that all the said provisions deal with the legislative intent through use of words "shall be final and shall not be called in question before any Court or other authority" appears to be quite clear in the said provisions and, thus, the same leaves no room for any ambiguity that the connotation of the term 'final' in S.464(5) of the Companies Act, 2017, is amplified by the words "shall not be called in question before any court or other authority "

Appellate Bench was of the view that subsection (5) of S.464 of the Companies Act ,2017 expressly barred calling in question final order of the Commission passed under subsection (4) of S.464 of the Companies Act, 2017

Appeal, being non-maintainable, is dismissed.

Order made under S.25(b) of National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, is subject to approval of Trial Court or Appellate Court, as the case may be and is not subject to challenge because nothing has been provided in National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, in such regard.