KARACHI, June 6: The Sindh Cane Commissioner has initiated legal proceedings against sugar mills for non-payment of sugarcane dues to growers which run into billions.

Cane Commissioner Nazar Mohammad Baloch told Dawn on Friday that criminal cases have been filed in the court of judicial magistrates of respective districts where the mills are located under Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950.

The relevant clause of the act provides that payment should be made to growers after one week of the receipt of cane at the mills.

The dues have accumulated on the basis of difference between the minimum cane price fixed by the government and the one actually paid to growers by mills.

Sources in the Cane Commissioner’s office said the minimum price of cane was fixed at Rs67 per maund but the mills paid Rs60 per maund.

Similarly the minimum price was reduced to Rs63 per maund towards the end of the crushing season and the mills paid Rs57 for a maund of cane.

Mr Baloch said that the cases had been filed against Tando Mohammad Khan for Rs47.78 million; Dewan Sugar Mill, Khoski, for Rs68.37 million; Dewan Sugar Mill, Sujawal, for Rs135.42 million and Faran Sugar Mills for Rs142.62 million.

The commissioner said there would be no action against Sanghar Sugar Mills, Mirza Sugar Mills, Pangrio Sugar Mills and Habib Sugar Mills which had made payments to growers.

He said cases had been filed against mills on two counts, firstly for non-payment of dues and secondly for not informing the commissioner about position of payments, which is mandatory under the sugar factories act.

Earlier notices were issued to mills to explain within one week reasons for not making payment to growers and submitting the payment position to the cane commissioner.

Only a few mills responded to the notices and also made payment.

The secretary of agriculture held two meetings with the sugar mill-owners recently, urging them to make payment to growers according to official price but there was no positive response.

The owners presented lame excuses for non-payment, such as low sugar price in the market and high cost of bank loans obtained for crushing.

This is first time in a decade that criminal cases have been filed against sugar mill-owners.

Under the law, if convicted the mill-owners could be jailed for two years along with a fine amounting to double of the dues owed to growers.

Mr Baloch said a bill was pending with the Sindh Assembly to declare non-payment of cane dues a cognizable offence, which would enable the Cane Commissioner to file FIR against mill-owners and police would have powers to arrest them.

He said growers were facing acute liquidity crunch due to non-payment by mills and they had no money to buy fertiliser for the new crop already half ripe.