LAHORE, Sept 28: Justice Syed Hamid Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court on Friday continued hearing arguments for and against the import of Indian sugar which has been seized at the railways godowns for allegedly being harmful to consumption. The court put off the case till Monday.

The arguments extended by the importers’ counsel range from the sale of “the same Indian sugar” at utility stores across Pakistan to the legality of the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) in judging the sugar quality.

Shahid Bilal, the counsel for Rana Brothers which has been seeking release of 900 tons of Indian sugar, said the values in the sample reports showed that the sugar was fit for human consumption. He said the official, who stated in court that the sugar was unfit for consumption, was not authorised to give such an opinion at all.

He said last year the Trade Corporation of Pakistan imported 7.46 metric tons of sugar from India which was being sold across Pakistan at utility stores. “Was that sugar ever tested?” he asked.

Representing Sawera Group, Advocate Ali Sibtain Fazli said the controversy of ICUMSA (a sugar element) was absolutely irrelevant because it pertained to the colour of the product. As for the presence of sulphur dioxide, he said, it was a substance used as preservative in several edibles, including fruit juices, colas, etc., in volumes higher than the ones found in the imported Indian sugar.

The lawyer said the PSQCA’s standards were admittedly advisory in nature because its constitution was illegal owing to the absence of notification. He added that the authority could neither give an opinion on the fitness of Indian sugar nor seek ban on the import.

He said many petitions had been pending against the PSQCA with the Lahore, Sindh and Peshawar high courts. The authority’s opinion on the fitness of the sugar indicated as if it was targeting the importers on behalf of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, he said, adding that the negative statement of its official and its rebuttal by their lawyer subsequently proved that they were moving in tandem.

PSMA’s Ambreen Moin said the importers were trying to import the sugar which had been rejected by several countries. The value of the ICUMSA was found to be different than the one listed on the bill of import which, she alleged, reeked of irregularity.

Under the trade policy, she said, the importers could have imported white crystalline sugar alone while the reports indicated otherwise. She drew a distinction between sulphur and sulphur dioxide and claimed that the latter had known to cause diseases related to lungs and skin.

She said according to standards, the value of ICUMSA was found to be much more than the permissible level. “The higher the level of the element, the lower the quality of sugar would be,” she added.

As Pakistan produced A-class sugar, allowing the import of inferior Indian sugar would hurt the local industry, she argued.