SC upholds order to relocate Sharif family’s sugar mills

Three-judge bench dismisses petition against LHC order

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has upheld decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to shift Sharif family’s Ittefaq, Haseeb Waqas and Chaudhry sugar mills to their original locations.

A three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Azmat Saeed and comprising Justice Amir Ata Bandial and Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on Tuesday heard the review petitions filed by Sharif family against the LHC order.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen had filed a petition in the LHC against illegal shifting of Sharif family's sugar mills from Nankana Sahib and Pakpattan to Bahawalpur despite a ban.

During the proceedings, Advocate Malik Qayyum, counsel for Sharif family, said his client's mills were shifted to Bahawalpur as sugarcane is not cultivated in the areas any more.



“How can we relocate the mills to their previous locations when sugarcane is not available there?” he asked. Justice Saeed quipped if the counsel wanted the court to issue order for farmers to grow sugarcane in the areas for their mills.

Justice Bandial also asked Ali Sabtain Fazli whether the government policy regarding relocation of sugar mills was not discussed in the LHC. Fazli said relocation of mills was not considered in the court decision. According to the verdict, mills could be shifted from one district to another district, he added.

Justice Bandial said there was a reason for shifting of mills as sugarcane crop was destroying water resources and also affecting the cotton crop in the areas. The court after hearing the case dismissed review petitions.