From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday declared null and void the inquiry report on the recent sugar crisis and directed the authorities to reinvestigate the crisis which witnessed a sudden surge in the price of the commodity.
The verdict was issued on a petition filed by around 20 sugar mills of Sindh, pleading to quash the report. The verdict was announced despite the matter was pending before Supreme Court.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Umar Sial, directed the Federal Board of Revenue, Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to conduct a fresh inquiry and include industry experts in the process.
The bench urged the institutions to find out if any sugar producer was given “illegal or unjust subsidy”.
“If any government official has misused his powers, it should be investigated,” said the bench. It also asked the revenue authority to investigate the matter according to the tax laws.
“FIA should also ignore the sugar inquiry commission report and re-investigate [the increase in prices],” directed the verdict. It also issued the same orders to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The court also ordered to forward the verdict to the SBP governor, NAB chairman and FIA director general.
