RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday asked the parties to come up with terms of references (TOR) for constitution of a local commission on Tuesday (today) on sugarcane crop across the Punjab.

The court also directed the three sugar mills including Ittefaq Sugar Mills, Chaudhry and Haseeb Sugar mills to submit written replies on a contempt petition within a week.

During the proceedings, CEO of Chaudhry Sugar Mills Yousaf Abbas Sharif (nephew of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif), CEO of Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills Waqas Riaz and CEO of Ittefaq Sugar Mills Mian Javed Shafi appeared before the bench.

The Chief Justice observed that the mills had committed violation of court’s orders which could not be tolerated. The court however adjourned the proceedings for a week as Chief Executive Officers of the mills requested for time to submit written reply.

Later, Advocate Salman Akram Raja appeared before the bench on behalf of Ittefaq Sugar Mills and advanced his arguments about relocation of sugar mills. When the bench asked him that under which law the mills were relocated, he replied his client had done shifting many years ago while the policy regarding relocation was introduced later.

Earlier, the lawyer of Haseeb Waqas Sugar mills advanced his arguments when court called TORs for constitution of local commission within a week.

The bench was hearing intra-court appeals filed by the mills against a decision of a single bench that declared their shifting to districts of south Punjab void.

JDW Sugar Mills of PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and others had assailed the relocation of the Sharif family’s mills.