The Tottori District Court has ordered the Fair Trade Commission to submit investigation records on a lawsuit citizens filed over collusive bidding for a garbage incinerator, court sources said Wednesday.

It is the first time a court has ordered the FTC to submit such records on the basis of the Code of Civil Procedure, the commission said.

The commission, however, has filed a protest, saying the records fall under the category of confidential documents protected by the code. As a result of the stalemate, the records have yet to be submitted.

Experts, however, say the court decision is expected to influence other lawsuits filed by citizens.

"The decision was groundbreaking," said lawyer Takashi Okawa, who specializes in citizens' suits against authorities. "I expect other courts to follow the same track and that the decision will eventually lead to the disclosure of all records the commission has on prearranged bidding."

In the Tottori incinerator case, a civic group filed a lawsuit in August 2000 demanding steel company NKK Corp. return 1.4 billion yen to the city of Yonago after the commission ruled the company was involved in prearranged bidding.

The company rejected the FTC ruling, and the judicial proceedings are still being handled at the commission.

Last December, the group claimed the commission's investigation records were indispensable for their suit.

The court ordered the commission to disclose the records June 28, saying the records fail to fall under the category of confidential documents protected by the Code of Civil Procedure.

"The judicial proceedings are still being carried out (at the commission)," a commission official said. "At this point, we do not think it is appropriate to disclose the records."