Government has made public the forensic report of the Sugar Inquiry Commission which was constituted to probe the irregularities in the sugar industry.
PM’s information aide Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar shared the details the report during a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Wajid Zia was conducting a forensic investigation of the recent sugar crisis that hit the country earlier this year.
Akbar said the report, which will be published online, explicitly says that sugar mills owners pay amount to sugarcane growers even less than the support price and also make cuts in the weight of sugarcane from 15 to 30 per cent.
“The commission traced irregularities in the form of giving advance payments to farmers in the form of cash or commodity, which is akin to unregulated banking,” he added.
Describing the report as unprecedented, the PM’s accountability aide said no government has ever made such commissions in the past.
He said PM Imran has also directed all his advisers and special assistants to declare the details of their assets.
The prime minister had constituted two high-powered committees headed by the FIA DG to probe into circumstances that led to the wheat and flour controversy and the reasons behind the increase in sugar prices in the country.
According to the report, PTI former secretary general Jahangir Khan Tareen and a brother of ex-minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar were the major beneficiaries of the sugar crisis.
As per the findings of the report, the companies owned and controlled by Jahangir Khan Tareen (JDW) exported 17.24% of its total production and availed 22.71% of the total export subsidy amounting to Rs561 million.
The companies owned and controlled by Makhdum Omer Sheryar – a relative of Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar – (RYK Group) had exported 31.17% of its total production and availed 18.31% of the total export subsidy amounting to Rs452 million.
The committee also found that the Punjab government was providing the subsidy for export of sugar at a time when the price of the commodity was increasing in the domestic market.
