Sugar mills' shifting: SC admits Sharif family's plea against LHC decision

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court accepted for hearing on Thursday the Sharif family's plea against the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision ordering the shifting of their sugar mills out of South Punjab.

In September last year, the LHC had ordered the mills, owned by members of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif's family, to move out of South Punjab. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Tareen, a South Punjab-based businessman, had taken the Sharifs to LHC over the illegal shifting of their sugar mills to South Punjab despite a ban. 

During the hearing, the chief justice ordered Tareen’s counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan, to assure the court that Tareen's sugar mill will purchase the available sugarcane from farmers at the government rate. 

Ahsan stated in court that the area’s five sugar mills will buy the sugarcane from the farmers.

The chief justice observed that farmers’ interests are supreme and ordered to ensure that the farmers are paid fair and square by the mill owners.

Chief Justice Nisar observed that he will personally monitor the process of the sugarcane purchasing, adding that he will hear the matter in his chambers if any complaints arise.

Accepting the Sharif family's plea for hearing, the court adjourned the case until April 18.

The court also rejected the Sharif family’s plea to issue a stay order against the LHC decision.

The LHC decision 

In September last year, the LHC declared illegal the shifting of three sugar mills owned by the Sharif family.

LHC declares illegal shifting of three sugar mills owned by Sharif family

LHC Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah ordered for the sugar mills to be moved back in three months

The bench, headed by LHC Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, ordered that the Ittefaq, Haseeb Waqas and Chaudhry sugar mills be moved back within three months.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and JDW Sugar Mills owner Jahangir Tareen had challenged the shifting of the sugar mills.

Tareen had said the mills, located in the South Punjab region, were shifted in violation of earlier court orders and the government’s own relocation policy of 2015.

The LHC had reserved its verdict in the case in May 2017 after all the parties had concluded their arguments.