SC suspends SHC verdict on sugar inquiry commission

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Aug 17 judgement of striking down the sugar inquiry commission and its report.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, allowed the relevant institutions to proceed with their investigation into the sugar scandal in compliance with the report.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the federal government through which it challenged the SHC verdict. It issued notices to 20 sugar mills to file their comments on the petition and put off the hearing for a month.

On Aug 17, an SHC division bench comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Omar Sial had announced the reserved verdict on a petition filed by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) against the inquiry commission formed by the government to probe into a sugar crisis that hit the country earlier this year.

The SHC declared the report of Inquiry Commission null and void and also ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to carry out an independent inquiry as per law.