In his petition, Barrister Zafarullah Khan had said that adulterated milk was being sold in the market. PHOTO: ONLINE
A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar last week directed the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore and Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) to conduct the analysis within a month.
Hearing a petition against sale of substandard milk, Justice Nisar remarked that checking food quality was a duty of the government but the court was making an order in this respect.
Addressing representatives of the three institutions, the judge instructed them to conduct the analysis of the milk samples without fear or bias. “The lives of our children are at stake,” he said.
“You may face pressure while doing this job but have no fear,” he said. The bench appointed Advocate Haider Rasool Mirza as coordinator in this regard. The hearing was adjourned for a month.
In his petition, Barrister 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. Barrister Khan said the citizens were being fed poison by the use of steroid injections for boosting milk production of buffaloes and quick growth of broiler chicken. He asked the court to ban sale of adulterated milk and sale of injections used to enhance milk production.
Case backlog
The LHC last week asked anti-terrorism courts in the Punjab to clear backlog of old cases by holding daily hearings.
The directive was issued at a meeting chaired by Justice Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa on Saturday.
ATCs judges were also directed to initiate proceedings for confiscation of properties of proclaimed offenders.
The performance of the ATCs, the prosecution and police was also reviewed at the meeting.
All the judges of anti-terrorism courts, the home secretary, the prosecutor general, the CCPO and the regional police officers attended the meeting.
Justice Bajwa directed the judges to expedite disposal of cases and urged police to complete investigation of the cases and arrest proclaimed offenders at the earliest.
Transfers
Last week, Lahore High Court issued transfer orders for eight additional district judges and 200 civil judges and judicial magistrates across the Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2016.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ