KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed the cane commissioner to ensure payment of all outstanding dues of sugar cane growers and take action against defaulting sugar mills.

Hearing a set of petitions, the two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar observed that the cane commissioner had been provided various opportunities but the dues outstanding against millers remained unpaid.

The bench asked the cane commissioner to take legal action against defaulting sugar mills in accordance with the Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950.

The cane commissioner submitted a report about the payments made by different sugar mills upon which a representative of growers said that the mode of payment was not mentioned in the report.

Putting off the matter till Dec 19, the bench directed the cane commissioner to submit a report at the next hearing with regard to the mode of payment and the number of cases filed by him against defaulting sugar mills.

The Sindh Growers’ Alliance (SGA) and others had moved the court stating that hundreds of applications regarding non-payment of growers’ dues by sugar mills were still pending action by the cane commissioner.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2019