IHC issues notices to respondents on sugar farmer’s petition
The Islamabad High Court issued notices on the petition filed by the sugar farmers seeking to be included in the sugar commission hearing to the respondents.
Tuesday, the court handed down a written decision in the trial.
The case will be taken up at 10 am on 19 June. The respondents were allowed to present their arguments through video link.
The extra attorney general told the court according to the order that the order to sell sugar for Rs70 per kilogram is not being implemented.
On 13 June, sugar farmers approached the court seeking to be included in the sugar inquiry report case as respondents.
Muhammad Ahsan Abdi, who is from the district of Rahim Yar Khan, filed a petition demanding that he be included in the case as a required member.
He said that the ‘sugar mafia’ infringed his rights and those of other farmers.
On June 11, the court restrained the government for 10 days from taking any action based on the inquiry report from the sugar commission. Mill owners had been directed to sell Rs70 sugar per kilogram until the next court hearing.
On June 10, the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association had challenged the investigation verdict. The petition said the investigation report was “absolutely unlawful” and contributed to a “unjustified campaign of vilification and demonization” against the sugar mills of the country, adding it violated the “right to due process guaranteed by the Constitution.”
The Islamabad High Court chief justice Athar Minallah expressed anger about the matter in a separate development on Monday. The judge suggested lifting the order for stay which prevented the government from acting against the sugar mill. There is no need for the order if the mills do not fulfill the terms, said Justice Minallah.
