IHC considers revoking interim stay order in sugar commission case

Additional attorney general's report states sugar not being sold at Rs70 per kg

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday accepted the petition of a sugarcane farmer from Rahim Yar Khan to be made a party in the sugar commission case.

The court also hinted at revoking the interim stay order which restricted the government from taken action against sugar mills owners upon being informed that sugar was not being sold at Rs70 per kilogramme as earlier directed by the court.

The court fixed the case for hearing on June 19 due to non-compliance on the rate of sugar, on which the stay was conditional.

Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar appeared before the court and submitted his report stating that sugar was not being sold at the decided price.

Khokar said that correspondence continued but sugar was not available in the market at the rate of Rs70 per kg.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah expressed his annoyance at the failure to fix the price. He remarked that the interim stay was conditional on this matter, and the hearing of the case can be held sooner.

The court fixed the hearing for June 19. The court admitted the farmer's petition to be made party in the case. The Centre also supported the grower's petition to be made party in the case.

Last week, the IHC issued an interim stay order, temporarily restricting the government from acting on the recommendations of the sugar inquiry commission report.

Mill owners were directed to fix the price of sugar at Rs70 per kilogramme during this time, and they assured the court of the same.

The court is hearing the petition filed by the owners of 17 sugar mills including PTI stalwart Jahangir Tareen and the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) against the commission’s report.

Notices were issued to Special Assistant to the PM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, members of the commission including its head FIA Director General Wajid Zia and other officials seeking their response to the sugar industry’s plea.

Sugar mill owners have maintained that the inquiry commission exceeded its constitutional authority in the preparation of the report by trespassing into the domain of the provinces.

They also argued that the recommendations forwarded to the government by the commission did not fall within the ambit of the law.