Past cases

This letter refers to the news report ‘NAB, FIA to power into action: Audit of all sugar mills from 1985’ (June 3, 2020). According to the report, the prime minister said, among other things, that the purpose of the sugar inquiry was to reveal the causes that led to the unnecessary rise. These reforms, if properly implemented, will cease, or at least curtail the exploitation of the masses and illegal profiteering by sugar mills, but they will not do so overnight.

We hear that the government has also asked the FIA and NAB to audit all sugar mills from 1985. The FIA, NAB and other government institutions have limited resources which should be used efficiently and productively. The cases already in hand should be prioritised instead of indulging in endless and useless pursuits just for the sake of scoring points against opposition politicians. Could this be a ploy to spare those within the government’s fold by delaying action till all the audit reports going back to 1985 are received, which could take years?

S.R.H. Hashmi

Karachi