Punjab for uniform sugar price: Supreme Court issues notices to three provinces

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the provinces of NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan when Punjab government approached the court for bringing the price of sugar at par in all provinces while expressing its apprehension of movement of sugar from Punjab to other provinces after the implementation of Lahore High Court (LHC) order of selling sugar at Rs 40 per kg.
Heading a three-member bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry questioned if Punjab could fix the price of sugar at Rs 40 per kg then why other provinces were unable to do so. The Chief Justice issued notices to provincial Chief Secretaries as well as Food Secretaries to appear before the court on October 1 and explain why they were unable to fix the price of sugar at Rs 40 per kg.
The court also decided to adjudicate upon the petition on October 1 along with other petitions on the issue of sugar price hike. Earlier in the day, Punjab government had filed an application saying it was ready to implement LHC order but prevalent prices of sugar in the provinces of NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan were higher. Hence, implementation of LHC order would inevitably result in movement of sugar from Punjab to other provinces.
It further said that under the constitution, provincial government does not have any power or authority to impose any restriction on the freedom of trade and commerce from one province to another or any part of the country. Therefore, in order to prevent shortage of sugar in Punjab prices of sugar be fixed at par in all provinces, the application prayed.
Advocate Khawaja Haris represented Punjab government before the bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja. Haris contended that Punjab government had made all preparations for implementation of LHC order of selling sugar at Rs 40 per kg. The Punjab government had prepared a report regarding steps taken in this respect, he added.
Speaking on behalf of the bench, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja observed that it was not the duty of the court. Since Punjab had a political government, it should overcome the crisis by political means. When the government fails to do so, the court has to interfere, he added.
Earlier, on September 24 the Supreme Court had refused to grant stay on identical petitions of the federation and provinces, seeking suspension of LHC order, whereas the Punjab government held Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) responsible for the worst ever sugar crisis.