ISLAMABAD – Sharif family gets yet another blow from Supreme Court as SCyesterday rejected the plea to reopen the Sharif family’s relocated sugarmills in South Punjab and ordered the stakeholders to devise a plan topurchase sugarcane from affected farmers by Tuesday.
Pakistan Kissan Ittehad had challenged the Lahore High Court verdict inSeptember last, declaring the relocation of the Sharif family’s mills tosouthern Punjab illegal.
The farmers had demanded thereopening link> ofthe Sharif family’s three relocated sugar mills – Chaudhry Sugar Mills toRahim Yar Khan, Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills to Muzaffargarh and Ittefaq SugarMills to Bahawalpur.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, heard thegrowers’ appeal.
To resolve the matter, the chief justice ordered constitution of athree-member committee, comprising an additional sessions judge,representatives of sugar mills and farmers, to thrash out a complete planfor purchasing sugarcane by Tuesday.
The cane commissioner told the court that around 57 spots had beenestablished for the purchase of sugarcane.
On the other hand, the growers complained that a severe injustice was beingmeted out to them.
The chief justice asked the counsel for the growers whether the farmers hadbeen brought to exert pressure on the court.
The court directed all the parties to hold a meeting with Tareen’s counsel,Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, asking the cane commissioner to attend it. Thecourt directed representatives of the sugar mills and farmers to submittheir respective proposals, adding it would pass an appropriate order afterexamining them.
The court directed the representatives of the five sugar mills to formulatea strategy for lifting sugarcane from the growers and submit a report.
During the hearing, the counsel representing the growers said sugarcaneworth Rs 17 billion was available in Rahim Yar Khan only.
The chief justice observed since no other sugar mills were operating in thearea, the farmers should grow more sugarcane. He said the LHC had declaredshifting of Ittefaq, Chaudhry and Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills illegal. The topjudge said there was no justification for the reopeninglink>of the non-operational mills.
Barrister Ahsan again assured the court of purchasing sugarcane from thegrowers.
At the last hearing, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and Jamaluddin WaliSugar Mills owner, Jehangir Tareen, along with four other sugar millsowners, had expressed his willingness to purchase sugarcane from all thefarmers affected by the closure of the Sharif family sugar mills.
Barrister Ahsan, on behalf of Tareen, had given an undertaking that hisclient along with the owners of Hamza, Ashraf, RYK and Indus sugar millswas ready to buy the harvested sugarcane from the growers at the rate fixedby the government, which was Rs 180 per 40 kilograms. The case wasadjourned until February 21.