PFA gets SC praise on action taken for food quality

Notices issued to federal, provincial govts on a petition challenging the Cybercrime Act

LAHORE: Supreme Court last week directed the Punjab Food Authority to take strict action against companies involved in producing substandard food and selling adulterated milk.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed that the companies selling substandard food did not deserve any concession and that action should be taken against them.

“If my own brother asked me to relax restrictions on a company selling adulterated food, I would have to send him to jail,” remarked Justice Nisar. The bench also praised Punjab Food Authority Director Ayesha Mumtaz for taking action against companies manufacturing substandard food in the province.

The SC also directed the authority to take action against two companies manufacturing milk products.

At a previous hearing, the Livestock Department had submitted reports regarding contaminated water and adulterated milk.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the lawyer who had complained of sale of unsafe water and substandard milk, had objected to the reports, saying they were compiled five years ago. He said the reports contained many cases of sale of contaminated water and unhygienic milk. “Despite this, no action was taken by the authorities,” he said. Punjab Food Authority Director Ayesha Mumtaz had told the court that action was being taken against companies found selling substandard milk. She said the authority had banned Premier Milk Company. Milk products of another company had also been banned.

The bench directed the authority to present complete record of action taken against companies producing substandard milk.

In his petition, Zafarullah Khan had said that adulterated milk was being sold in the market. He said this was causing serious diseases. “There is not a single laboratory in Pakistan capable of measuring contamination of chemicals in milk and water,” the petition said.

Cybercrime

Lahore High Court on Friday issued notices to the federal and provincial governments on a petition challenging the Cybercrime Act. Advocate Ishtiaq Chaudhary of Pakistan Awami Tehreek filed the petition. He said several provisions of the law were in violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.

The lawyer argued that the law could be used for political victimisation and to curb freedom of expression.

He said the law was almost identical to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, with a section on cyber-terrorism.

“Two parallel laws cannot be enforced,” he said.

The lawyer also questioned Section 18 of the Cyber Crime Act, saying it gave unbridled powers to the Federal Investigation Agency to access data from mobile phones and computers of citizens without prior investigation. He asked the court to strike down the Cybercrime Act 2016 for being in conflict with fundamental rights of citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2016.