Supreme Court vacates SHC's stay order on sugar inquiry

Tue, July 14, 2020

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court directed authorities on Tuesday to carry on with their investigation against sugar mills as it vacated the Sindh High Court's order that had restricted federal authorities from taking action against 20 sugar mills.

The apex court directed the government and its institutions to take action in accordance with law, but also cautioned against taking unnecessary steps against sugar mills.

Besides, the three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, directed both the Islamabad High Court and the Sindh High Court to announce the verdict on the petitions against the sugar commission.

The bench also restricted government officials from making statements on the matter.

Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan had argued that SHC's order was not in accordance with law. However, he assured the court that the government would not take any unnecessary coercive action and would proceed as per the law. He further stated that the matter will not be subjected to a media trial either.

Earlier, a division bench of the SC, comprising CJP Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, had not ruled against the SHC's order and had adjourned the hearing till today with the case heard before a three-member bench.

Justice Ahsan had endorsed the AGP’s contentions and wondered how the SHC could intervene after the IHC decision, wherein the federal government is asked to follow due process in this case.

At today's hearing, the apex court annulled SHC's interim order restraining the federal authorities and adjourned the hearing indefinitely.

Only July 3, the SC had refused to suspend the SHC's interim order restraining the federal authorities from taking action against around 20 sugar mills of Sindh on basis of the reports of a sugar inquiry commission.

The commission – led by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief – was formed by the federal government to probe into a sudden shortage of sugar that resulted in a steep hike in its prices in January.

In its preliminary report – unveiled on April 5 – the commission had claimed that sugar mills belonging to the country’s top politicians including PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif, PTI’s Jahangir Tareen and Khusro Bakhtiar and PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi were among the beneficiaries of the crisis.

Published in The Express Tribune on 15 July 2020

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