The Lahore High Court on Monday declared the shifting of three sugar mills owned by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his close relatives to Southern Punjab region as illegal. Rejecting the intra court appeals (ICAs) of Chaudhry Sugar Mills (RY Khan), Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills (Muzaffargarh) and Ittefaq Sugar Mills (Bahawalpur) and the court directed them to restore their previous locations within three months.
"It is declared that shifting/re-location of the three Sugar Mills, from Central Punjab to South of Punjab is in violation of Punjab Industries (control on establishment and enlargement) the Ordinance 1963," said the bench while dismissing the appeals. The bench directed the provincial government to submit a progress report on the administrative side. In case of non-compliance, the bench said, the office shall put up the case before the court for appropriate orders.
The bench observed that in case of change in circumstances ie ecology, economics, environment, etc; the government is free to reconsider the ban in the light of section 3 of the ordinance, if so advised. The bench clarified that in future, if any sugar mill wishes to relocate or shift from one local area to another in Punjab; it can make an application under section 3, if there is no ban on the establishment of a new sugar mill.
The bench ruled that the relocation is not different from establishment of a new sugar mill while the relocation notification is ultra vires of the Ordinance. "In this background, the very initiation of the relocation policy by the government is diametrically opposed to the scheme of the Ordinance, and, therefore, bad in law and hopelessly misconceived. As a result, the entire process adopted by the government leading to the relocation notification comes to naught and passed for malice-in-law," the bench maintained.
The bench further observed that the appellants (sugar mills) not only established their sugar mills by relying on a wholly misconceived and self-styled interpretation of the ban and section 3 of the ordinance, they also, with contemptuous obstinacy disregarded the restraining orders of the court. "This is the bleakest aspect of the case, which tells tales of how court's orders have been repeatedly flouted and rule of law trampled upon by the appellants," it added.
The bench held that if court's orders are allowed to be disobeyed by the elite, it would destroy the trust and confidence of the people in the system of justice. "It would also debilitate and enfeeble the foundations of the rule of law in country and we cannot let this happen," the bench said. "Any compromise on this principle will decimate the sanctity of court orders and make a mockery of the judicial system," the bench further ruled.
The applicants had challenged the decision of a single bench that declared their shifting to districts of southern Punjab illegal. JDW Sugar Mills of PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and others had agitated the matter of the relocation before the single bench and said the shifting had been carried out in violation of a ban imposed by the government. They also pleaded that the Sharif family established new mills under the garb of relocation.
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