The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed Sharif family's review petitions seeking relocation of their sugar mills to southern Punjab. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed heard the review petitions of Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills, and Ittefaq Sugar Mills. The sugar mills were shifted from Pakpattan and Nankana Sahib to Bahawalpur.
The Supreme Court on 13th September last year had rejected the appeals of Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills and Ittefaq Sugar Mills and stated that the mills owners would not be allowed to do business in a shifted location after two months. They were ordered to remove installation and machinery from the mills within two months. However, the court ruled that the mills' building could be used for any other lawful business.
Malik Abdul Qayyum, representing Ittefaq Sugar Mills, argued that the High Court had ordered that they could apply to the government for transfer of sugar mills. However, the Supreme Court in its judgement did not make mention of government's permission.
Justice Azmat remarked whether this court has closed door for them not to shift mills. Malik Qayyum contended that his client shifted mills from Pakpattan to Bahawalpur, adding how they can bring mills back to Pakpattan as sugarcane is not cultivated there. Justice Azmat said if this is the situation then should they pass an order to grow sugarcane there as well?
Advocate Sibtain Fazli argued that mills can be set up with the permission of the government. Upon this Justice Umar Atta Bandial inquired whether the apex court in its judgement had not discussed the issue related to the government policy.
The lawyer, however, contended that the court did not consider the matter related to transfer of mills, adding that according to the judgement a mill cannot be shifted from one district to another.
Justice Azmat maintained if sugar support price is removed then sugar mills will function well. He observed that most of sugar mills are of those who themselves decide the size of subsidy.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa, another member of the bench, observed that the Sharif family does have fundamental right to shift the mills. The sugar mills could be shifted from one location to another in the interest of country. He said the main objective of the judgement is not to close the mills, but the court had imposed ban on shifting of sugar mills in two districts.
The lawyer of Ittefaq Sugar Mills contended that the judgement maintained that an application can be given to the government for transfer of mills.
Justice Bandial said that due to that sugarcane has caused immense harm to cotton in that area. He said that cotton is a major crop that Pakistan exports.
Last year the owners of Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills and Ittefaq Sugar Mills filed appeals against the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision.
A single bench of LHC Justice Ayesha A Malik on October 11, 2016 had stopped the Sharifs from shifting sugar mills to new locations. The division bench of LHC on September 13, 2017 not only upheld the verdict of Justice Ayesha but also directed the mills to dismantle and remove their plants and machinery within three months and move them to the location they were when the court had issued its first stay order in the case.
Former secretary general of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Jahangir Khan Tareen and the owners of Indus Sugar Mills and RYK Sugar Mills had challenged the relocation of mills from central Punjab to southern Punjab in the LHC.
The Punjab government in 2006 had issued a notification through that it banned the shifting of the mills from one district to other. However, on December 4, 2015 through another notification the Punjab government regularised the relocation of the factory by clarifying that the ban notification does not cover the relocation of the sugar crushing unit.
They had slammed a 2015 notification through which the Sharif family had managed to obtain permission to move sugar mills despite a ban.
It was the stance of the PTI leader that the relocation of a sugar mill is not only violation of the Punjab Industries (control on establishment and enlargement) Ordinance 1963, but also of the Punjab government's notification which had banned the shifting of mills.
Comments
Comments are closed.