Sugar mill owners summoned by Supreme Court

Zulfiqar Mirza and Chaudhry Munir are among the rest of the mill owners sought by the apex court

ISLAMABAD: In what could set a major precedence, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has summoned Sharif brothers, Asif Ali Zardari and other sugar mill owners to appear in person on Thursday and explain non-payment to cane farmers and growers.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, heard the suo motu case on Tuesday.

"The Court finds it expedient that the owners (not the CEOs/directors etc.) of all the sugar mills in Pakistan must personally appear to explain and resolve the issue in hand," the court order read.



Other mill owners named in the case were Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jehangir Tareen, father-in-law of Maryam Nawaz’s daughter Chaudhry Munir, former Home Minister Zufiqar Mirza, Humayun Akhtar, Haroon Akhtar, Khusru Bakhtiar, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf.

Moreover, the communique continued, this press release shall be deemed to be a public notice to all the owners of the sugar mills in Pakistan for their personal appearance before the Court.