Karachi: The Sindh High Court has dismissed a petition seeking directions to fix a new minimum support price for sugarcane, observing that the previously notified price will continue as the provincial government has not decided to revise it, Dawn reported.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Muhammad Saleem Jessar and Justice Nisar Ahmed Bhanbhro noted that the government had not issued a fresh notification for the 2025тАУ26 crop season, and therefore the price fixed earlier in 2022 would remain applicable.
The court also observed that the provincial authorities had delayed announcing a new price as the federal government had certain financial commitments with the International Monetary Fund.
The petition was filed by the Sindh Growers Alliance along with a sugarcane grower. The petitioners had named the chief secretary of Sindh, the agriculture and supply and prices departments, the cane commissioner and sugar mills as respondents.
They argued that the government had issued a notification in November announcing the start of the crushing season without first declaring the minimum support price and quality premium for sugarcane.
Counsel for the petitioners claimed that the provincial government, in coordination with sugar mills, had intentionally delayed the announcement of the cane price and the start of the crushing season, which they said had caused financial losses to growers. They also maintained that the crushing season legally begins on October 1 and any delay was unlawful.
However, lawyers representing the provincial government and sugar mills opposed the petition. They argued that the issue related to economic policy and pricing decisions, which fall under the authority of the government and cannot be determined by the court.
In its order, the bench referred to the Sugar Factories Control Act 1950 and stated that the law gives the government the authority to decide the minimum price of sugarcane each season based on the recommendation of the relevant board.
The court noted that the last notification was issued in November 2022, fixing the minimum sugarcane price at Rs302 per 40 kilograms. It also set a quality premium of 50 paisa per 40 kilograms for every 0.1 percent increase in sugar recovery at the end of the 2022тАУ23 crushing season.
According to a statement submitted by the cane commissioner, the proposal to set a price for the 2025тАУ26 season was placed before the provincial cabinet in November. However, the cabinet postponed the decision because of financial commitments linked to the IMF programme.
The court also observed that under the law, sugar mills are required to pay growers a quality premium when the sugar recovery level exceeds the base sucrose level of 8.7 percent.
The bench said the cane commissioner had assured that the premium would be paid to sugarcane suppliers and farmers at the end of the current crushing season.
The court further stated that since the government has not decided to revise the minimum price set in the 2022 notification, issuing a new notification was not necessary and the earlier price will remain in force. It also noted that the petitioners had not shown that the absence of a new price notification had violated their fundamental rights or that mills were paying less than the cost of production.
