LAHORE, Oct 30: The Lahore High Court on Monday issued notices to the federal and the Punjab governments for changing the crushing season schedule for sugarcane and reducing support price of the commodity.

Justice Mohammad Akhtar Shabbir issued notices to the federal agriculture ministry and the provincial department concerned, besides the Punjab cane commissioner and the director-general, agriculture, (extension), who, the Kisan Board of Pakistan (KBP) has pleaded, yielded under the pressure of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association for changing the crushing season schedule and also lowering the support price of sugarcane in violation of the Sugarcane (Punjab Amendment) Act, 1943, and other statutory provisions.

The changes made, according to the petition, were against the interest of the nation as well as that of the growers of the province to benefit a few mill owners who, it said, had a political influence over the government.

The court also directed the departments to submit their parawise comments on the writ petition through which the KBP requested the court to direct the two tiers of the government to amend their decision to start the crushing season from Nov 1 instead on Oct 15 and also increase the sugarcane support price from Rs60 to Rs73.53 per 40 kilogramme.

The KBP submitted in its petition, moved through advocate Mohammad Arshad Gondal, that the crushing season started from Nov 1 which spared cane growers enough time to properly prepare soil for wheat sowing. Such a practice had been prevailing since the act was passed in 1943.

Similarly, the support price of the commodity was determined by a Punjab government committee, which it did in the beginning of the year. Such a practice was also there for decades to afford growers a reasonable price for their crop.

The KBP stated that certain big guns in sugar production industry enjoyed political clout as well, and wielded sway over the both tiers of the government to an extent that they got withdrawn a decision of a probe by the National Accountability Bureau into the hoarding and then black marketing of sugar earlier this year.

The petitioner stated that the powerful sugar millers’ lobby once again prevailed on the government not only to change the crushing season schedule and reducing the support price of the commodity but also secured the government decision that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) would not import sugar and that all imports of the essential commodity were subject to duties.

The petitioner also stated that the early sowing of wheat would result in lowering its yield to 5-10 million tons. It stated that all such decisions would ultimately hit the consumers, whose interest had thus been ignored to benefit a handful, but powerful, millers.