SHC tells govt to constitute district task force for action against profiteering and hoarding

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday asked the Sindh government to constitute a task force for every district under the supervision of the respective deputy commissioner to take action against the menace of profiteering, black market and hoarding.

The direction came on a petition seeking the enforcement of laws pertaining to the control of hoarding and black market of essential commodities in the province. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar took exception to the non-implementation of laws pertaining to the control of hoarding and black market in letter and spirit, observing that had the laws been implemented effectively, the lockdown situation would not have become so serious.

The high court directed a provincial law officer to submit reports from the deputy commissioners on the efforts being made by them to control black market, profiteering and hoarding of essential commodities in their respective territories.

The SHC observed that a task force should be constituted in every district under the supervision of its deputy commissioner to handle the emergent situation and the deputy commissioners may depute different teams in their districts for taking action in accordance with the law against profiteering and hoarding.

The high court enquired of Assistant Commissioner Syeda Jashia Fatima of the Commissioner Office about the efforts being made by them to control black market, hoarding and profiteering of different essential items. The bench inquired as to whether the government had appointed any judicial officer to check hoarding and black market in essential items.

She submitted that they had visited some shops for price taking and also imposed fines but details were not available to them. She requested time to produce on record the entire details of the price-taking visits conducted by their department in different areas. She further submitted that the deputy commissioners of various districts had also deputed some staff to check the prices of essential commodities in their respective jurisdictions.

The high court observed that a task force should have some standard operating procedure prepared by the Commissioner Office which may be forwarded to all the deputy commissioners for their proper implementation in the emergent situation where due to price hike in the essential commodities, the public at large was being affected.

The SHC observed that officers had themselves stated before the court that the masks which were being sold at Rs5 per piece were now being sold at Rs50; whereas, the normal price of an average sanitiser bottle was between Rs350 and Rs450 which was now being sold at Rs2,000. The high court observed that such statements of government officers were sufficient to hold that the relevant laws were not being implemented in letter and spirit.

An assistant director (legal) of the Bureau of Supply and Price informed the SHC that the price list of all the essential commodities, including grocery items, should have been notified but it was not done by the Commissioner Office.

The petitioner, M Tariq Mansoor, had submitted that under the hoarding and black market law of 1948, the central government had powers to appoint special judges for trial under the law. He submitted that those special judges were to be appointed after consultations with the high court having jurisdiction in the area but no such special judge had been appointed despite the law was in field since 1948.

The petitioner added that the government had not appointed any judicial officer to monitor the prices of essential commodities under the relevant law. The SHC directed the petitioner to file amended title on the petition and implead the federal government also as a party in the petition so that notices could be issued to the federal government for its comments.

Mansoor had submitted in the petition that several laws pertaining to control hoarding and black market in essential commodities, including the Sindh Registration of Godown Act, Hoarding and Black Market Act 1948 and Sindh Essential Commodities Price Control &Prevention of Profiting and Hoarding Act 2005 were promulgated time to time by the provincial government but the same were not being enforced in letter and spirit.

The petition said that the Sindh Registration of Godown Act 1995 was promulgated some 25 years back but could not be enforced properly, due to which citizens were facing artificial crises and shortage of essential commodities such as tomatoes, onion, sugar and wheat, and became victims of hoarding and profiteering by unscrupulous elements.

The petitioner had maintained that the Karachi Essential Article (Price Control and Anti-Hoarding) Act 1953 was enacted for regulating the possession, distribution and sale of essential commodities in the Karachi division but unfortunately the same was not enforced in letter and spirit. He submitted that due to lack of enforcement of essential commodities’ prices and their distributions, people were compelled to purchase such commodities at higher prices without any check and control by the provincial and federal governments which were supposed to ensure the supply of those commodities on notified prices.

The high court was requested to call record from the provincial government with regard to the enforcement of the Sindh Registration of Godown Act and other laws pertaining to essential commodities and direct the government to ensure the sale of essential commodities on their notified rates. The court directed the federal and provincial law officers to file comments about the efforts they had made for the implementation of such laws.

The SHC directed the provincial law officer to submit reports from the deputy commissioners on the measures they had taken to control black market, profiteering and hoarding of essential commodities in their respective territories and adjourned the hearing till April 24.