Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Khawaja Muhammmad Sharif has called report and comments by September 03 in a suo motu proceeding initiated against sugar crisis. Earlier Chairman Trading Corporation of Pakistan Saeed Ahmed Khan informed the court that sugar price for the utility store has been fixed at the rate of Rs 38 per-kg for next three months. He also informed the court that there is enough sugar in Pakistan for the consumption up to next crushing season.
The court, therefore, observed that mill owners, stockists and traders are responsible for the sugar crisis. The court also asked the law officer to get information about the fixation of the sugar price and inform the court why the sugar was being soled at Rs 49 per-kg even after its fixation at Rs 40-kg.
The law officer informed the court that after last crushing seasons 16 out of 45 sugar mills had demanded Rs 33.06 per-kg. He said provincial government had asked the federal government to take strict action otherwise it would be difficult and the same appeared. He said government had reduced the tax up to fifty percent and also subsiding. The court observes why the government not cancelled the tax on sugar instead of subsiding the sugar price and called report and comments from the two respondent governments.