ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet will consider on Tuesday a request of the Sugar Forensic Commission (SFC) for granting it three more weeks to compile its report on last year’s food crisis after the expiry of the April 25 deadline given for the task.

“The Sugar Forensic Commission report was due today, however, the Commission has requested the federal government for extension of time (three weeks) for submission of a thorough report, (and) their request will be considered by the federal cabinet on Tuesday,” wrote Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar on his official social media page on Twitter on Saturday.

The commission, headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Wajid Zia, had reportedly made a formal request to the federal government on Friday citing multiple reasons, including the coronavirus situation.

The SFC had been constituted by the government in the first week of April following the release of two separate inquiry reports of the FIA on the issue of artificial shortage of sugar and wheat in the country and sudden increase in their prices last year.

The inquiry report on sugar had revealed names of many bigwigs, including Jahangir Tareen, the former secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and a close confidant of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had allegedly obtained benefit during the crisis.

The report had showed that in the past few years the production of sugar was historically more than the local requirement, therefore, it was imperative to probe and include this aspect related to export of sugar, including any subsidy given, its impact on local sugar prices and eventually major beneficiaries of such export subsidies, if any. The inquiry committee had found that the export of sugar was not justified as sugarcane production was expected to be low in harvesting season 2018-19 and with the export of sugar in Jan 2019, the prices of sugar sharply increased.

After the release of the report, the opposition had demanded that the PM take stern action against those who had been declared responsible for the crisis by the FIA committee.

PM Khan had vowed to take action, but said he would do so after receiving the forensic audit report from the commission that he had constituted on the recommendation of the ‘initial’ reports. The commission comprises officials from a number of agencies and departments including Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Board of Revenue.

Taking to Twitter, the prime minister later said he was waiting for the detailed forensic report before taking action.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2020