Centre, provinces collude with millers

ISLAMABAD - The federal government and four provinces Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court praying for suspending the decision of fixing price of sugar at Rs 40 per kilogram by Lahore High Court (LHC) till the decision of the petition.
It was held in the petition that LCH judgement lacked references to record and was liable to be set aside till the final adjudication of the petition. The LHC last month ordered traders to ensure a retail price of sugar at Rs 40 per kilogram as compared to the market price of Rs 46 per kilogram amid growing public anger about rising food prices.
The petition was jointly filed under Article 185 (3) of the Constitution by federal government, four provincial governments, Ministry of Industries and Production, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).
The Federation argued if the LHC judgement sustained, it would result in closure of sugar mills that would ultimately inflict losses to the growers of sugarcane and a decline in the growing of the commodity that had already been diminishing for the past two years.
It further stated that the whole sugar industry would end up in chaos if the LHC decision was sustained. It was stated in the petition that the price fixed by the LHC would require a subsidy of Rs 37 to 40 billion which was beyond the capacity of the federal and provincial governments, having already deficit budget of Rs 722 billion at the Centre.
The petition contended that in such an eventuality, additional import of Rs 1.5 million tonnes of sugar would be heavy burden on the national exchequer that was already under stress and strain. It further stated if the operation of judgement passed by the LHC on September 3, 2009 was not suspended during the pendency of the petition, irreparable loss would occur.
It further stated that the forcible lifting of sugar stock at the price fixed by the LHC for selling it in open market by exercising coercive process would drain sugar from the market making sugar inaccessible to the general public. The petition further argued that the fixation of the price by LHC was unrealistic making the very business of manufacturing and selling of sugar confiscatory and expropriated, thus infringing the fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 18 of the Constitution.
The petitioners stated that the price of sugar at Rs 45 per kilogram had been fixed by the federal government in conjunction and unison with the provincial governments and sugar suppliers, adding the commodity was being sold at the rate of Rs 60 and Rs 70 per kilogram in India and Afghanistan respectively.
The decision to approach the apex court was taken in three-hour long meeting chaired by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at PM House on Thursday. It was decided to file a petition to inform the apex court about the issue of sugar crisis. Pakistan Sugar Mills Association and Punjab Sugar Dealers Association have already filed identical appeals in the Supreme Court against the LHC verdict.