PESHAWAR, July 29: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday admitted for full hearing a writ petition filed by Pakistan Flour Mills Association, NWFP chapter, challenging the ban imposed by the provincial government on movement of wheat and wheat products among districts in the province.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Shahjee Rehman Khan and Justice Ziauddin Khattak directed the provincial government to file written comments in reply to the petition. The petition was filed on behalf of the association by its secretary, Haji Wadood Noor, praying the court to declare the ban as illegal and unconstitutional.
The NWFP government, Local Government secretary, Food secretary, Food director, regional coordination and district police officers of Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Malakand and Swat are made respondents in the petition.
Advocate Moazam Butt appeared for the petitioner and contended that the imposition of ban on inter-district of wheat and wheat products under section 144 of CrPC resulted in market price distortion and problems for the people in the backdrop of recent harvest.
NWFP Advocate General Ziaur Rehman Khan contended that there was no ban on movement of wheat and wheat products within the province.
Mr Butt contended that although there was no ban on movement of flour from Punjab, the government had banned that flour ground by the mills in NWFP.
By hindering the free movement of wheat and flour among the districts the respondents had victimized millions of peoples in NWFP through hike in the prices of wheat and flour, he added.
The petitioner stated that ban on wheat and wheat flour and its free inter-district movement by the respondents was in violation of the fundamental rights of the people of NWFP and being so the petitioner invoked the extra-ordinary constitutional jurisdiction of the provincial high court.
The petitioner stated that trade and commerce throughout Pakistan was free and the ban practically imposed by the respondents was against the expressed provisions of the Constitution.
The orders regarding ban on wheat movement passed by NWFP Food secretary and Food director, petitioner stated, was in conflict with Article 151 of the Constitution that guaranteed trade, commerce and intercourse throughout Pakistan should be free.
The petitioner, which has around 252 flour mills as its members, said that by non-supplying wheat to the flour mills would turn thousands of people jobless associated with the flour mills.
He added that many of the mills in the province were already closed and rest were now forced to stop their business, profession and occupation and that was in violation of Article 18 of the Constitution.