The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has rejected the allegations made in sugar inquiry commission report, accusing sugar mill owners of evading taxes and getting billions in illegal subsidies.
PSMA has criticized the sugar inquiry commission report citing that the commission ignored the recommendations made by sugar mills representatives and it fundamentally lacked the expertise and knowledge to investigate the matter altogether as it failed in considering the factors of demand and supply with respect to sugar prices.
The association accused the inquiry commission of distorting facts and figures in order to please the Prime Minister and that it intentionally formulated the report to significantly undermine the sugar production cost.
The Sugar Mills Association also highlighted that the production model recommended by the commission is impractical and unfeasible for businesses.
It is to be noted that the sugar inquiry commission report had accused sugar mills of evading taxes and obtaining illegal subsidies worth billions of rupees.
The report had identified sugar mills owned by Shehbaz Sharif’s family, Jahangir Tareen, Khusro Bakhtiar’s brother and Moonis Elahi of benefiting from illegal subsidies and responsible for sugar price hike in the country.
Senior PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen had refuted the allegations made against him in the commission report, and had stressed upon his innocence against charges of corruption and corporate fraud.