LAHORE: The Punjab caretaker authorities has blamed a Lahore High Court (LHC) order for a steep enhance within the price of sugar, saying that because of restrictions on the federal government to observe the availability chain of the commodity it didn’t cease the smuggling of sugar to a neighbouring nation.

According to a report offered to a gathering presided over by Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the sugar mills and speculators had been charging Rs180 per kg towards the ‘very reasonable notified retail price’ of round Rs100 per kg.

“Since May this yr [when the stay was granted by LHC] about 1.4 million metric tons of sugar has been offered by the sugar mills at a mean of a further Rs40 per kg. The sugar mills and brokers/sellers/speculators have thus extorted Rs56bn additional quantity solely due to the keep order,” the report added.

The “provincial authorities are unable to test motion of sugar and smuggling to Afghanistan by means of Balochistan” because of the keep order, the report mentioned.

According to the federal government, throughout the briefing in regards to the enhance in sugar costs and the issuance of two keep orders by the Lahore High Court, the meals secretary knowledgeable that the keep orders had prevented the acquisition of sugar mills’ data.

“Owing to the keep order(s), sugar hoarders have loved a free rein, resulting in a considerable enhance in sugar costs and inflicting hardship for the individuals,” it mentioned.

The assembly determined to file an enchantment to have the keep orders cancelled. “The advocate normal of Punjab has been directed to file the enchantment forthwith on this regard.”

A few years in the past when sugar costs began rising, the FIA launched motion towards the nation’s high 10 main sugar teams in reference to the ‘speculative price-hike’ of the sweetener.

The FIA had then detected Rs110 billion earnings by the sugar mafia by means of ‘speculative pricing’ and booked house owners of the ten sugar mills, together with Shehbaz Sharif, his sons Hamza and Suleman and Jahangir Khan Tareen within the sugar rip-off. However, after the change of presidency in April final yr, these instances have been just about closed.

The price of sugar has already climbed previous Rs200 per kilo in some components of Pakistan. On Tuesday, the commodity was retailing someplace wagerween Rs190-200/kg in Karachi, whereas the wholesale price was Rs173 per kg.

Published in Dawn, September sixth, 2023