Pakistan government is reported to have requested the Supreme Court to find a middle way between accepting and rejecting petitions challenging the sale of the Pakistan Steel Mill citing Pakistan’s Attorney General Mr Makhdoom Ali Khan who referred to various judgments to establish that courts normally refrained from interfering in governments’ economic policies. He said that while any illegality in the process of privatization was open to adjudication, the privatization policy itself was not. The AG said that issues regarding sale prices of units were an arena where courts should not venture.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry observed that the court had to examine the case within the four corners of the Privatization Commission Ordinance 2000 which had obligated the government to sell a state property for poverty reduction and debt retirement. Justice Javed Iqbal observed that governments did not enjoy unfettered rights on the pretext of pursuing economic policies and that there should be some safeguards for people’s rights; otherwise it was open to judicial review.