The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday came down hard on the federal government for failing to furnish its response to a petition against skyrocketing prices of essential food items. A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, observed that the government was issued notices repeatedly but no reply has been filed yet. “Why don’t the federal authorities submit their reply?” he questioned the deputy attorney general. The state counsel assured the court of submission of the response at the next hearing. The petitioner lamented that people find it difficult to buy essential food commodities due to their skyrocketing prices. He pleaded with the bench to seek an explanation from the centre about why it has not been controlling inflation. He further demanded that the court issue appropriate orders for bringing down the prices of food items.