Cane commissioner ordered to sell stock of sugar mills

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday ordered the Punjab cane commissioner to furnish a compliance report after selling sugar stock of Brother Sugar Mills to settle the overdue payments of farmers against the sugarcane supply.

As hearing started, Cane Commissioner Waqas Ahmad said the Utility Stores Corporation was interested in purchasing the sugar stock and the corporation had been asked to submit a bid for further process. He sought time from the court for the compliance with the order.

Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah deferred further hearing till September 6 and directed the cane commissioner to submit a compliance report. Previously, the chief justice had ordered the cane commissioner to seal the sugar mills for defaulting on Rs840 million payments to farmers.

Waqas had told the court that the Brother Sugar Mills had a pledged a stock of 400,000 sugar bags with the cane commissioner office and another 209,000 bags with banks. He said the sugar stock pledged with the cane commissioner office was around Rs10 million in worth. However, he said, the mills owed the payment of around Rs840 million to the farmers. The chief justice ordered the cane commissioner to sell the pledged stock and deposit the amount with the court’s account.

A number of farmers had approached the court against non-payment and alleged that the mills’ administration had been misusing relations with the ruling Sharif family against government authorities and delaying the payment.