Court orders resumption of sugarcane crushing

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court on Tuesday ordered Punjab chief secretary to ensure resumption of sugarcane crushing by all mills in the province and timely payment of sugarcane to the farmers on a price fixed by the government.

Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi was hearing petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami, Punjab Amir Maqsood Ahmad and others challenging closure of sugar mills’ production during the peak of crushing season. The petitioners submitted that the sugar mills had not started crushing season this year, which was supposed to be commenced by the month of October every year. However, they said, the mills had not been following the rules for last two years. They said the closure of crushing had been causing a great loss to farmers.

They claimed that the loss in South Punjab region had crossed over Rs40 billion due to frequent delay in start of crushing season. The judge directed the chief secretary to submit a compliance report within 30 days about opening of the all sugar mills except three and payment of the sugarcane to farmers at Rs180 per 40kg fixed by the office of the cane commissioner.