LHC directs Punjab govt to fix sugar price

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Thursday declared null and void the federal government’s notification issued for determination of sugar prices and allowed the Punjab government to fix the price of the commodity.

A two-member LHC bench, comprising Justice Shahid Kareem and Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmad, declared the federal secretary’s notification null and void, and said under the 18th Amendment, it was the provincial government that had the authority to fix the prices of the commodity.

Sugar mill owners had challenged the notification issued by the federal government for the determination of sugar prices. The LHC division bench had reserved its decision on the petitions filed by different parties, challenging the increase in prices of sugar by the federal government.

The petitioner’s counsel had argued that the federal government had no power to fix the prices of sugar, adding that after the 18th Amendment, the power had been shifted to the provinces. They requested the court to set aside the federal government’s notification wherein prices of sugar had been increased.

Strongly opposing the arguments, the lawyers representing the Federation, cited judgments of the superior courts in support of their contention that it was the federal government and not the provincial government that had the power to fix the sugar prices. The bench, after hearing their arguments, reserved its decision and announced it on Thursday.