ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of a petition seeking free movement of wheat when it was told that the Punjab government had withdrawn the ban it had imposed earlier.

Advocate General Punjab Shabbar Raza Rizvi told an SC bench that at present there existed no ban as the Punjab government had withdrawn its earlier order prohibiting movement of wheat to other provinces. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Ellahi had on Tuesday announced that there was no ban on the inter-provincial movement of wheat flour.

A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Justice Javed Iqbal and Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was hearing a petition of Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), NWFP chapter, seeking direction from the apex court to the Punjab government to lift ban on the movement of wheat to other provinces, especially the NWFP.

The ban was imposed by the Punjab government some months back under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) when the procurement of wheat had started. The petitioner had prayed the SC to hold that the trade and commerce throughout Pakistan should be free under Article 151 (inter-provincial trade) of the Constitution and that the Punjab government and the Punjab Assembly had no authority to make any law or take any executive action prohibiting or restricting the movement of wheat to other provinces, particularly the NWFP.

The association had also sought declaration that any order or decision under Section 144 CrPC was against the mandatory provisions of Article 151 of the Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.

The petition said the ban had rendered millions to face food shortage and thus made the lives of millions of people miserable. Thousands of people associated with the wheat business would also become jobless.

Already a large number of member mills had closed down while others were on the verge of closing because of the non-availability of wheat, the petition said. The association had also asked the court to permanently prohibit the Punjab government from imposing such orders in the future.