SC orders: Bakers free to set samosa prices

LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) has set aside a government notification to fix the price of a samosa at Rs 6. The order allows bakers to sell samosas at rates they themselves fix.  Justice Tasadduq Hussain Gilani and Justice Asif Saeed Khosa allowed the appeal of Punjab Bakers and Sweets Federation. Earlier, the district government had fixed the price of a samosa at Rs6, and fined shopkeepers for selling samosas at higher rates. The Punjab Bakers and Sweets Federation, through its President Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal, had challenged the order but the Lahore High Court had dismissed the petition. The petitioner moved an appeal in the SC arguing that samosa was not an item notified under Punjab Foodstuffs (Control) Act 1958. He said the government could not fix its price.  A counsel for the government argued it had the authority to fix prices of items being sold to people at large. The SC allowed the appeal and set aside the notification.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2012.