Sued for ‘spoiling chicken’

Petitioner claims half-fried 4,075 kg of chicken he stored at Fish Net freezers<br /> was spoilt.

LAHORE:

A wedding hall owner has sued a butcher’s shop for almost Rs3 million after guests at two weddings were served spoilt chicken.

A consumer court issued notice to the proprietor of Fish Net, a store in Tollinton Market, for December 22 in a suit seeking damages of Rs2,731,967.

Petitioner Muhammad Khalid, the owner of Dulhan Shadi Hall, submitted that he had made a deal with Fish Net to store chicken in their freezers. He said that he had half-fried 4,075 kg chicken and stored it in bags in freezers at Fish Net.

He said that a few days later, he retrieved more than half the chicken and cooked it for two wedding functions. He said the guests at the weddings complained that the chicken smelled bad and had spoiled. The petitioner said that his customers refused to pay him the full amount, withholding Rs70,000 because of the spoilt food.

Khalid sought Rs2,731,967 in damages, plus 18 per cent interest from the date of the cause of action till payment.

Muhammad Javed, the proprietor of Fish Net, denied that his business was responsible for the spoilt food.

He told The Express Tribune that the chicken was fine when it was delivered to the petitioner.

He said that the weddings at which the spoilt food had been served had taken place two weeks after the chicken was delivered.

He said that it was only when he demanded payment for the use of his freezers that the petitioner even mentioned the spoilt chicken.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2012.