PTI condemns sugar scandal, calls for judicial commission probe

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has condemned the ongoing sugar scandal, demanding the formation of a high-powered judicial commission to investigate the issue. 

According to the PTI, the scandal resulted in a loss of Rs287 billion to the national exchequer and an estimated Rs300 billion in illegal profits funneled to ruling elites and their associates.

In a statement, a PTI spokesperson accused the political elite of colluding with state institutions to manipulate the sugar market, resulting in economic losses for the public. The party argued that the sugar crisis was a deliberate scheme designed to benefit a select few at the expense of the people.

The PTI called for a judicial commission with full investigative powers to examine the involvement of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, members of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the federal cabinet, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the scandal.

The spokesperson criticized the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for revealing the extent of the crisis, calling it a planned plundering operation orchestrated by the ruling coalition. PTI further claimed that the sugar export policy was designed to generate undue profits through price manipulation, hoarding, and re-importation.

The statement placed significant blame on Ishaq Dar, claiming that as chairman of the Sugar Advisory Board, he approved the sugar export policy, which was then endorsed by the ECC and the federal cabinet. The PTI argued that this chain of events implicated the entire government in the scandal.

The party also highlighted that the main beneficiaries were political figures, including the Sharif family, Asif Zardari and his associates, Suleman Shehbaz, Jahangir Tareen, and other influential figures. 

PTI recalled that during Imran Khan’s tenure as prime minister in 2020, a Sugar Inquiry Commission was formed, which exposed the perpetrators, but lamented that the same groups are now in power, with key institutions such as NAB, FIA, FBR, and the Ministry of Industries failing to take action.