LHC declares JIT investigating Sharif, Tareen sugar mills 'null and void'

The Lahore High Court (LHC) declared on Thursday the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted to investigate the sugar mills of the Sharif family and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen null and void.

Petitions filed by Shehbaz Sharif’s family and Tareen argued that the action being taken by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was illegal as it was ordered by the federal cabinet which has no such jurisdiction.

The petitions also stated that proceedings by the FIA and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) were being done on Special Assistant to the prime minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar. They pleaded with the LHC to declare all actions by the FIA and SECP as null and void.

The hearing today was conducted by a two-member LHC bench comprising Justice Shahid Karim and Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi. The court quashed the notices sent to the sugar mills by the SECP, local media reported. The high court said that the SECP did not follow the law while conducting its inquiry.

Regarding FIA's investigation, the LHC said that while it has powers to carry out the inquiries, it needs to be determined under what law the FIA conducts these inquiries. The detailed verdict will explain the role of FIA in the case, the high court said.

In May, an inquiry commission revealed how sugar barons had cheated farmers, benefited from subsidies and created conditions so that the price of sugar could go up. Tareen was among the people accused of benefitting the most from the crisis.