The legal fraternity hailed the recent decision of Lahore High Court (LHC) pertaining to fixation of sugar prices, saying that the superior judiciary had performed its due role after the government failed to find any solution for the crisis.
Talking with Business Recorder, Advocate Ikram Chaudhry said: "It seems as if judiciary is performing the duty of government institutions". It should not be considered activism on the part of the courts, as whenever there is a question of fundamental rights, the courts can take appropriate actions, he added.
He referred to Article 9 of the constitution, which deals with life and liberty of a person, and said that it is the duty of the government. "However, when parliament fails to play its role, courts can take appropriate action". He said that it is an open secret that the owners of sugar mills are none other than the politicians and, in such circumstance, it is the court which could have rectified this problem.
"In such circumstances, when government functionaries are safeguarding their personal benefits, the LHC verdict cannot be termed extrajudicial activism". Advocate Hashmat Habib said that the LHC had taken a very appropriate decision, and added that the government itself was responsible for artificial price hike of sugar. "Millers are a mafia, and government has underhand deal with them," he added.
He said that the court had passed the order after going through a detailed report submitted by the provincial government with a realisation of its limits. However, Advocate Ahmer Bilal Sufi came up with a different view and said that courts "should avoid controlling market prices" through court orders. "However, if matter is taken to a court, then it could take any decision," he added.
The LHC had promptly taken suo motu notice of media reports that market players had made billions of rupees by raising the price of sugar in connivance with some political dignitaries.
According to the report submitted by the government of Punjab before the court, sugar is being sold at 17 sugar mills at Rs 33.26 per kg. And the report submitted by the Ministry of Industries said the average retail price for the year 2007-08 was Rs 28.56,
and the federal government was selling it at Utility Stores at Rs 38. Afterwards, on September 3, Lahore High Court (LHC) had asked the Punjab government to ensure sale of sugar at Rs 40 per kg all over the province, saying that the price should be kept the same in the open market, Sunday/Ramazan bazaars and Utility Stores.
Although Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has pledged to enforce the court order, sugar producers have refused to bring prices below Rs 45 a kilo, the ex-factory rate fixed by the prime minister a fortnight ago. In this connection, the Punjab government has once again started raiding sugar mills. But the millers have blatantly refused to comply with the court orders.
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