SC halts sugar-cane crushing in three sugar mills owned by Sharif Family

ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Saqib Nasir gave orders to halt sugarcane crushing in three sugar-cane mills owned by the Sharif family.

The Ittefaq Sugar Mill, Chaudhry Sugar Mill and Waqas Sugar Mill have been ordered to halt sugarcane crushing after a petition was entered by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jehangir Tareen’s DW Sugar Mill, challenging an earlier stay order by the Lahore High Court.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court returned the matter to the Lahore High Court. Meanwhile, the apex court dismissed a stay order by the Lahore High Court allowing crushing sugar-cane in the mills owned by the Sharif Family.

The Chief Justice directed the Lahore High Court to form a bench and resume hearing on Tuesday.

The Sharif family counsel Salman Akram Raja said that Supreme Court had given a verdict which favoured Jehangir Tareen. He added Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Sharif is not part of the Ittefaq Sugar Mill anymore and it is owned by the Shafi family.

During the proceedings, he said closing the sugar-mills will mean unemployment for 800 people.

To this, Jehangir Tareen's lawyer Aitezaz Ahsan argued that the court should give any concession to Sharif.