ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has admitted for regular hearing a petition filed by the Punjab government seeking the court’s orders for the introduction of a uniform retail price of sugar all over the country. The SC issued notices to all four provincial secretaries and sugar mills owners seeking their explanation on this count.
A three-member bench of the SC headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawad S Khawaja took up the petition for hearing on Monday.
At the inception of the hearing, Khawaja Haris advocate, counsel for Punjab government, took the plea that the Punjab government was fully implementing the retail price of sugar fixed by Lahore High Court at Rs 40 per kilogram.
However in other provinces, the retail price of sugar was higher than Punjab and it is feared that sugar can be shifted to other provinces and a new crisis can emerge, as the Punjab government can not ban shifting of sugar to other provinces under any law.
CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, said that the petition filed by the Punjab government gives the impression that only one province was ready to sell out sugar at the price fixed by LHC.
Justice Jawad S Khawaja said that the government could on its own do the job in determining the prices of edibles and essential commodities instead of moving the issue to the court.
‘Keeping a check on prices is the responsibility of the government. Political governments are in place in all four provinces which could do this job. Provincial governments’ could evolve a better strategy within legal parameters to curb shifting of sugar to the other provinces, he said. -Online
