Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Islamabad High Court 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 taking 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 Centre also supported the grower’s petition to be made party in the case.
The Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah reprimanded the government on Monday after the Pakistan Sugar Mill Association refused to supply sugar at the reduced rates of Rs70/kg in markets countrywide despite the court’s orders.
During the hearing, Justice Minallah sought the implementation report from Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar and inquired whether sugar was being sold for Rs70/kg, as per the court’s orders last week. “The court cannot fix the prices if the prices are not regulated by the authorities, it is the job of the executive to ensure court orders are followed,” CJ Minallah asserted.
Is the restraining order over? asked Khokhar, to which, the CJ responded by saying that there was no use of the restraining order if it does not comply under the given conditions. The court then approved the government’s request to become a party in the sugarcane farmer’s sugar mills case and fixed the hearing for June 19.
