SC suspends SHC order against Sugar Inquiry Commission report

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a Sindh High Court (SHC) order declaring the Sugar Inquiry Commission’s (SIC) report as illegal.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed also issued notices to 20 sugar mill owners and related respondents in the case.

The court accepted for hearing the federal government’s appeal against the high court’s verdict and adjourned hearing the case for a month.

The federal government had filed an appeal against the SHC’s order that declared the commission as illegal and its report as null and void. The SHC had also directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to launch a fresh investigation into the matter.

READ MORE: SHC declares sugar inquiry commission’s constitution, its report illegal

The verdict was issued by the SHC on a petition filed by sugar mill owners against the commission on the sugar price hike earlier this year. A two-member bench comprising SHC’s Justice Karim Khan Agha and Justice Omar Siyal delivered the verdict.

The high court had directed the FBR, FIA, and NAB to carry out a fresh investigation as per the law. It also issued the same orders to the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Sugar mill owners were dismayed over the report that made startling revelations about how the price of sugar is fixed and hiked to create an artificial shortage. It said that exports are faked to avail rebates on sales taxes worth billions of rupees overcharged by sugar mill owners.