LHC orders cane commissioner to resolve dues issue

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Cane Commissioner of Punjab to resolve within two weeks a payment dispute involving a sugar mill and a local farmer, who claims the mill has failed to clear sugarcane dues exceeding Rs2.4 million.

Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza passed the directive on a petition filed by Amir Farooq, a farmer who alleged that the Ramzan Sugar Mills administration was deliberately delaying payment for sugarcane supplied, despite repeated reminders.

Farooq's counsel told the court that the farmer had delivered sugarcane worth Rs2.464 million to the mill, but the administration had been using delaying tactics under various pretexts, rather than fulfilling its legal obligation to clear the dues.