LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Friday came hard on Punjab cane commissioner for issuing show-cause notices to sugar mills for not starting crushing season instead of lodging cases against their owners despite a previous court’s direction.
Justice Sajid M Sethi was hearing petitions filed by JI leader Maqsood Ahmad and others challenging closure of sugar mills’ production during the peak of crushing season. On the last hearing, the judge had ordered the cane commissioner to lodge cases against sugar mills that did not start crushing by Dec 22.
However, cane commissioner told the court that show cause notices had been issued to the mills. He directed the commissioner to submit a report on December 26 after lodging cases against the offending mills. The judge also sought a separate report regarding payment of sugarcane to farmers as Rs180 per 40kg.