ISLAMABAD – The embattled Sharif family faced another blow on Thursday as the Supreme Court ordered the relocation of three sugar mills owned by the former ruling family to central Punjab.
The top court ruled the relocation of Ittefaq Suger Mills, Chaudhry Sugar Mills and Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills to south Punjab illegal, giving two months for shifting the machinery back to central Punjab.
The sugar mills were relocated in 2015 after the former provincial government led by Shehbaz Sharif amended a 2006 notification which barred the establishment of new sugar mills and the expansion and relocation of the existing ones.
In 2016, former PTI secretary general and tycoon Jahangir Tareen challenged the relocation of mills before the Lahore High Court which declared the relocation illegal, last year.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/relocation-of-three-sharif-owned-sugar-mills-declared-illegal-by-lhc/
Irked by the decision, the mill owners challenged the LHC verdict in the top court, where it was heard by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar.
Earlier this year, Justice Nisar had ordered that the mills should not be dismantled in their current location due to cane crushing season.
As the season is now over, the top judge, in a short order directed that the mills be relocated to their original locations in central Punjab within two months.
The buildings of the mills, which will be vacated after the relocation, should not be demolished and instead used for any other purpose, the top judge remarked.
Renowned lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan appeared on behalf of Jahangir Tareen both in Lahore High Court and Supreme Court.
The decision comes at a time when the Sharif family is engaged in the funeral of Kulsoom Nawaz, who breathed her last on Tuesday after battling Lymphoma for around 11 months.
