Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdur Razak Dawood appeared before the sugar inquiry commission on Thursday and recorded his statement, a private TV channel reported.
The inquiry commission questioned the adviser about subsidy provided on sugar export. The commission is headed by FIA Director General Wajid Zia
According to officials, Sugar Advisory Board, under the chair of Abdur Razak Dawood, had recommended export of sugar, after which Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) allowed export of 1.1 million tonnes of sugar in October and December of 2018.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, however, refused to appear before the commission, the TV channel reported. In a letter penned by the advocate general of Sindh to the FIA director general, the investigation agency has been asked to take back the summons issued to the chief minister. “The Sindh government has nothing to do with the subsidy on sugar and the price hike,” the letter read, adding that the decision to export sugar was of the federal government, not Sindh province.
A day earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had recorded his statement before the commission investigating the sugar crisis. On May 12, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had also recorded his statement before the commission. Talking to media on the occasion, Asad Umar had said that soon it would be revealed as to how Prime Minister Imran Khan was different from other political leaders.
According to reports, the commission has made some progress in the ongoing probe after conducting interviews of the chief executive officers (CEOs) of different sugar mills on Sunday. It is pertinent to mention here that the federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 28 had given three more weeks to the commission to compile its detailed forensic report on the scandal.
