SHC restrains govt from taking action against 20 sugar mills of Sindh.

KARACHI -- The Sindh High Court on Tuesday restrained till June 30 the federal authorities from taking action against around 20 sugar mills of Sindh on the report of a sugar inquiry commission.

A two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Omar Sial also issued notices to the respondents for the next hearing.

The Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills and around 19 other mills of the province moved the SHC against the report of the inquiry commission against cartelisation and price hike of sugar and pleaded to quash the report.

The bench in its order said the lawyer for the petitioners, Makhdoom Ali Khan, contended that the commission was not properly constituted in accordance with the relevant legislation and it included members who had already made up their minds against the sugar mills as they were also members of an earlier inquiry committee which had been constituted for the same purpose.

The lawyer argued that during the inquiry none of the petitioners were asked for information or clarification regarding the operation and business of their mills and the commission had made observations against them, which had an adverse impact on the business and reputation of the petitioners.

The order further stated that the bench asked the counsel as to how the matter came within the writ jurisdiction of the SHC as no concrete action had been taken by any department against the petitioners.

The lawyer submitted that as a consequence of the observations made in the inquiry report and the ensuing media debates on the subject, a perception had been created that all sugar mills were indulging in unlawful activities.

The counsel maintained that such a perception had been detrimental to the petitioners' business and in breach of Article 17 of the Constitution. He...