Five sugar mills to lift entire crop, Tareen tells SC

Top court suspends LHC order to dismantle Sharif family’s mills

ISLAMABAD: Five sugar mills have given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that they will buy sugarcane from all framers in southern Punjab.

Still a three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, on Thursday suspended an order of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to dismantle the Sharif family’s sugar mills from southern Punjab within three months.

However, the court did not allow the Sharif family’s sugar mills to resume crushing during this season.

 



The court fixed the hearing of the petitions by three sugar mills for April 18.

During the hearing, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan appeared before the bench along with his client, JWD owner Jahangir Tareen, and said that five sugar mills – JWD, ARY, Hamza, Ashraf, and Indus – were ready to buy the sugarcane crop.

During the Wednesday’s hearing, the court had offered Tareen, the PTI leader, to lift the whole stock of sugarcane from farmers in southern Punjab or the court would temporarily allow the Sharif family’s sugar mills to start crushing.



The bench also told Tareen to ensure that there would be no loss to the farmers. The chief justice said he would himself monitor the sale of sugarcane.

Meanwhile, counsels for the farmers, in their petitions, expressed apprehensions that the mentioned mills had no capacity to bus the entire sugarcane crop from South Punjab.

But the chief justice said he was well aware of those pushing the farmers to move petitions in the apex court.

Earlier, the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) requested the Supreme Court that the high court order of striking down Punjab’s relocation policy of Dec 4, 2015 had indirectly allowed a few existing sugar mills, located in southern Punjab, the benefit of monopoly and unfair trade practices.



The high court had also failed to consider the fact that the crushing season must immediately begin by the end of November every year, according to a PKI petition.

“Thus, the high court order had deprived the sugarcane growers of the revenue and caused insecurity to the economic sector,” says the petition. “The impugned high court order was also detrimental to the economics of the sugarcane growth, crushing and processing and was consequently contrary to the national interest.”

The judgment did not consider that farmers were able to cultivate a cash crop which enabled them to create a food basket in rural areas and contribute greatly towards the economy of Pakistan and the rural areas, it says.

The high court had also strangulated the principle of competition within an industry, and the growers no longer have sugar mills to purchase their crops in close proximity and will be unable to gain the same profit that was afforded to other cane growers in the area, according to the petition.



“In case the farmers are forced into selling their crop at reduced rates to the existing sugar mills in southern Punjab, they will suffer from irreparable loss and injury,” it says.

The hearing was adjourned till April 18.

The chief justice said he would listen to further objections in his chamber.

In December 2006, through a notification, the Punjab government had banned the setting up of new sugar mills and the expansion of the existing ones. The prohibition included the relocation of mills as well.

However, in 2015, the provincial government had amended the 2006 notification to allow relocation.

This revision led to the relocation of Chaudhry Sugar Mills to Rahim Yar Khan, Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills to Muzaffargarh and Ittefaq Sugar Mills to Bahawalpur. All three mills are believed to be the property of the Sharif family.

In 2016, however, Tareen challenged the relocation of the mills in the LHC, arguing that the amendment was only made to benefit the Sharif family and that the relocation was illegal.

In September 2017, the high court declared the relocations illegal and ordered that the owners of the mills return to their previous locations within three months.

Later, three sugar mills, which are believed to be owned by the Sharif family, challenged the LHC judgment in the apex court.

Meanwhile, the same bench, while hearing a suo motu case regarding the appointment of judges on vacant posts of special courts and tribunal, ordered the federal and provincial governments to fill all vacancies until next Friday.

Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali told the bench that the appointment of new NAB prosecutor general would be made within two days.

Likewise, the same bench disposed of the PTI petition, seeking a probe into the funding of the PPP and the PML-N.

PTI lawyer Chaudhry Faisal Hussain told the bench that in view of a recent judgment in the Imran Khan case, he would approach the Election Commission of Pakistan to get remedy in the matter.