Sindh Government Thursday asked Sugar Inquiry Commission to withdraw its letter through which it had sought the appearance of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah before it.
Advocate General (AG) Sindh Salman Talabuddin in a letter to Direct General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), who is heading the commission, stated that appearance of Sindh Chief Minister before commission doesn't fall in terms of references set out for it by the Interior Ministry.
AG Sindh stated that from the report of the Inquiry Committee constituted pursuant to the Prime Minister's letter No.755/A/M /SPM/2020 dated 20.02.2020, it is clear that the matters/events that were required to be inquired into took place in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 in view of the fact, which the Inquiry Committee itself determined that the real increase in retail price of sugar occurred from December 2018 to June 2019.
"From the findings of the Inquiry Committee it is evident that all acts of omission and commission responsible for the alarming increase in the price of sugar were centered in and confined to the province of Punjab, the AG said.
Given this, we find it difficult to understand why the Government of Sindh is being dragged into the quagmire created by the Government of Punjab and is being asked to provide a briefing in respect of matters pertaining to the years 2017-2018 which cannot conceivably have any bearing on the task assigned to the Sugar Inquiry Commission," the top law officer of Sindh opined and stated and added that during 2017-2018 the price of Sugar actually reduced, at least in the province of Sindh.
He also stated that as it is evident from its own report, inquiry committee didn't ask the Chief Minister to appear throughout the period of its functioning and brief it on the issue of subsidy granted by provincial government in 2017-18 on the export of sugar over and above the subsidy allowed by the federal government during the period.
"No person/entity in Sindh features in the Inquiry Committee's report as having played any part in, or being responsible in any way for causing the devastating and illegal increase in the prices of sugar on account of events that took place exclusively in Punjab during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The AG said that "the fact that committee didn't request the Chief Minister to appear before it and give it a briefing that took place in 2017-18 that the information/briefing that you are now seeking from him was not considered by the committee to be relevant as indeed it is not, for the purpose of the task assigned to it. If it was not relevant then, certainly can't be relevant now".
The AG Sindh said that issue in which Chief Minister was asked to appear doesn't fall in any of TORs, therefore the letter should be withdrawn.
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