ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Thursday directed for halting operations of the Ittefaq, Haseeb Waqas and Chaudhry sugar mills till final adjudication of the matter by the Lahore High Court.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing an appeal against the interim order of Lahore High Court passed on Jamal Din Wali (JDW) petition allowing the sugar mills owned by Sharif family members to continue crushing.
In the said petition JDW, which is owned by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary who himself is a sugar industry tycoon, had challenged the LHC division’s interim order delivered in a case that originally was filed over relocating the above said sugar mills from northern Punjab to southern Punjab, allegedly in violation of the rules.
The bench vacated the LHC interim order but remanded the case back to high court with the direction that a division bench of high court, preferably headed by the chief justice, hear the matter on February 16 and decide it within seven days.
The apex court also said that all the parties can file any new documents in the high court to back their respective positions.
A division bench of LHC on October 28, 2016 maintained the status quo in the matter of shifting five sugar mills owned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and their relatives.
On October 10, a single-judge bench declared illegal the relocation of Chaudhry Sugar Mills and Ittefaq Sugar Mills in Sahiwal; Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills in Nankana Sahib; Abdullah (Yousaf) Sugar Mills in Sargodha; and Abdullah Sugar Mills in Depalpur to other districts.
The apex court bench observed that the high court’s order allowing the sugar mills to continue crushing is not sustainable as it was not given with reasons and therefore it is being set aside.
“We convert these petitions into appeals. Various restraining orders have been passed. High Court has not taken into consideration fundamental document and has passed non-speaking and mechanical orders those are set aside on account of urgency,” the short order of apex court said.
During the hearing, representing Tareen’s JDW Sugar Mills Ltd, PPP Senator Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan told the apex court that the shifting of sugar mills was an illegal move. He cited a 2006 Punjab government notification which had not only banned the creation of new mills but also the shifting of existing ones to new locations.
Defence counsel Salman Akram Raja argued that a December 2015 amendment in the 2006 notification, overseen by the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, made provisions for the shifting of sugar mills from one point to another, although the creation of new mills remains illegal.
The chief justice inquired from Raja whether Hamza Shahbaz and his family members have shares in the Ittefaq Sugar Mills.
Justice Saqib advised Raja not to go on merit of the case; otherwise, it would be questioned that whether Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved the summary to relocate the sugar mills to give benefit to his family members.
Raja stated that it was just an accusation, as the notification was amended in accordance with the law.
The 2006 notification said: “No new sugar mill shall be set up and no enlargement in capacity of the existing sugar mills is allowed in the province.”
But before that, in December 2015, a notification was issued reading: “No new sugar mill shall be set up in the province, and the capacity of an existing sugar mill shall not be enlarged. …the government [however] on the recommendation of the committee may in public interest allow the relocation of a functional sugar mills.”
Justice Atta Bandial said it was [also] the case of public interest wherein it had been alleged that the chief executive [of the province] had vested interest in amending the original notification.
Salman Raja argued that the Ittefaq Sugar Mill had not violated the court orders. He said the notification was amended by a committee. He said still there was a ban on establishment of new sugar mills, but only shifting of mills was allowed.
Raja also said the order to suspend the crushing would render thousands of labourers working in the mills jobless, adding Rs380 million investment would go to waste. He further said with the closure of mills, an associated power plant would also be closed.
Aitzaz Ahsan argued that the LHC had given interim relief to the Ittefaq Mills, while the case is still pending. He said the mill taking benefit of that order started crushing. He contended that sugar mill was set up in the guise of the power plant.
Aitzaz said the Supreme Court in a judgment has made it clear that sugar mills could not be set up in cotton growing areas. He argued that shifting of Ittefaq from northern to southern Punjab is violation of court order and the law.
The apex court returned the case to the Lahore High Court directing the LHC chief justice to hear all sides of the case and deliver a verdict within a week.