CCI Secretariat

Frequently Asked Questions:-

1. What is CCI?

• CCI stands for Council of Common Interests. It is a constitutional body set up under Article 153 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.

 

2. How does it function and what are its Rules of Procedure?

• Article 154 (1) of the Constitution provides that the CCI shall formulate and regulate policies in relation to matters enlisted at Part II of the Federal Legislative List and shall exercise supervision and control over related institutions.
• Under Article 155 of the Constitution, the Council also deals with complaints as to interference with water supplies or reservoirs. To resolve disputes with respect to construction of hydro or thermal power stations in any Province and laying of Inter-Provincial transmission lines also comes under the purview of CCI under Article 157.
• Clause 5 of Article 154 of the Constitution provides that “Until [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] makes provision by law in this behalf, the Council may make its rules of procedure”. As such, the CCI functions through its Rules of Procedures, 2010, available at our website i.e. www.cci.gov.pk. These Rules provides for procedure regarding:-

 

• Meetings of the Council (Rule-5)
• Circulation and confirmation of minutes and decisions (Rule-6)
• Manner of submission of cases to the Council (Rule-10)
• Implementation of decisions of the Council (Rule-11)
• Correction of minutes and decisions of the Council (Rule-12)·
• Reference against the decisions of the Council (Rule-13).

 

3. What is composition of CCI, and who appoints the Council?

• In terms of powers conferred upon him under Article 153 (1) read with Article 154 (2), the President of Pakistan appoints the Council on the advice of the Prime Minister within thirty days of the Prime Minister’s taking oath of office. The CCI was last re-constituted by the President of Pakistan, vide Notification No.1(2)/2010-CCI dated 13^th May, 2022, with the following composition:-

 

1.	The Prime Minister	Chairman
2.	The Chief Minister, Balochistan	Member
3.	The Chief Minister, KP	Member
4.	The Chief Minister, Punjab	Member
5.	The Chief Minister, Sindh	Member
6.	Mr. Ahsan Iqbal,Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives	Member
7.	Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Commerce	Member
8.	Khawaja Saad Rafique, Minister for Railways & Aviation	Member

 

4. What is the timeline for convening meetings of CCI and who is chairs the meetings?

• Article 154(3) provides that the CCI shall meet at least once in ninety days. Meetings of the Council are chaired by the Prime Minister in his capacity as Chairman CCI. The meetings are attended by its Members, concerned Federal Ministers and Secretaries, Provincial Ministers and Chief Secretaries. As per Rule 5(1) of Rules of Procedures of CCI, “the Chairman may summon the meetings of the Council to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit. Under Rule 5(2) of the said Rules, the Chairman may convene a meeting on the request of a Province on an urgent matter.

5. How many meetings of CCI have been held since 1973?

 

• Since 1973, 49 meetings of the Council have been held, as per following breakup:-
  1. 11 meetings from 1973 to 2010 (before 18^th amendment)
  2. 38 meetings from 2010 to date (after 18^th amendment)

 

6. Which is the appropriate forum to appeal against decision of CCI?

 

• Article 154 (7) provides that if the Federal Government or a Provincial Government is dissatisfied with a decision of the Council, it may refer the matter to {Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)} in a joint sitting whose decision in this behalf shall be final.

 

7. Whether minutes and decisions of CCI are available for research purpose to students of Universities or otherwise?

 

• The minutes of the CCI meetings contain sensitive discussions on national issues, hence restricted documents. However, decisions of the Council are published through Annual Reports and available on official website of the CCI Secretariat for information of government functionaries and general public.