Millers, dealers shoot themselves in the foot

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a NAB report, made two years ago during an earlier sugar crisis, besides directing the State Bank to furnish details of loans provided to the mill owners and the mode of repayment. The NAB report had also exposed the questionable dealings of the sugar cartel. The sending for the loan record will also create problems for the sugar barons.
The court also rejected request for staying LHC orders that fixed sugar prices at Rs 40/kg and directed Provinces of Punjab, Sindh and N.W.F.P, Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and Competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to furnish details regarding production and prices of sugar during the past three years.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Sardar Raza Khan and Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk issued these orders while hearing appeals of the PSMA and the Sugar Dealers Association of Punjab against the September 3 verdict of the Lahore High Court that had fixed ex-mill price of sugar at Rs 40/kg.
Advocate Shafqat Chohan, who had filed a writ petition in the LHC besides the suo moto notice taken by its Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif, Wednesday prayed to the court to further bring down prices of sugar.
He said that State Bank through Circular Number 2 of 2009 had directed owners of sugar mills to return loans taken from banks by July 31. However, he said, the mill owners in connivance with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industries and Production did not return their loans on time and used the said amounts for hoarding sugar. Were they forced to return the loans they would surely have sold out their stocks thus having no money for hoarding sugar, he said.
Shafqat Chohan also alleged that the PSMA had misguided the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) that they had enough quantity of sugar and there was no use of importing the commodity. Sugar dealers counsel Farooq Amjad Mir contended that high courts had no suo moto jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution. He said the LHC also violated Supreme Courts decision in this regard.
The Chief Justice observed that the court could never allow favouring a few sugar mills owners and ruining the lives of 160 million people of the country.
Mir pleaded that the LHC verdict was based on news items and that the said court had not heard their pleas despite issuing them notices.
The Chief Justice observed that the sugar mills owners made billions of rupees from the crisis; where did they take the money? He remarked that the sugar mills owners should prepare themselves for contempt of court if they did not abide by court orders.
Mir prayed to the court to allow interim increase in sugar prices at Rs 5/kg, to which Justice Sardar Raza Khan observed that on the one hand Mir said that the court had no authority to fix prices of commodities and on the other hand he was requesting the court to allow increase in sugar prices.
The court sustained the sugar price fixed by the Lahore High Court till decision of the case. The case was adjourned till September 24.