Health Hazard: Social worker goes to court over ghee packaging

KARACHI:

In the interest of the public, a self-proclaimed social worker has filed a petition against repacking oil and vegetable ghee in used cans made of tin.

Muhammad Imran Shehzad argues that the low quality packaging renders the product unsuitable for human consumption. He gave the example of the Punjab government that has banned it used tins but said that in Sindh the general policy is being violated.

Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh heard the petition on Friday. But the lawyer from the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) asked for more time. The PSQCA lawyer told the bench that magistrates have been cracking down on people who are doing this kind of business and after raids, at least two ghee mills are being prosecuted.

The court allowed his request for more time to comment and adjourned for a date to be fixed by the office of the court. The petitioner’s lawyer Ghulam Mohiuddin Qureshi advocate opposed the request for more time, saying that it was just a delay tactic.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2011.