The Lahore High Court on Monday declared shifting of five sugar mills owned by close relatives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as illegal.

The court also set aside two notifications issued by secretary industries that allowed shifting of Chaudhry Sugar Mills, Ittefaq Sugar Mills Sahiwal, Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills Nankana Sahib, Abdullah (Yousaf) Sugar Mills Sargodha and Abdullah Sugar Mills Depalpur to other districts.

JDW Sugar Mills, owned by PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, and others had filed petitions against the shifting of mills. The petitioners stated that secretary industries issued the impugned notifications with mala fide intention to facilitate the desired relocation of these four mills.

They said under section 3 of Punjab Industries (Control on Establishment and Enlargement) Ordinance, there was a restriction on establishment of industrial units without provincial government's permission.