KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday imposed a ban on the sale of milk products found unfit for human consumption.
The apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) MianSaqibNisar and comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab was hearing a case pertaining to substandard packaged milk at its Karachi registry.
During the hearing, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) submitted its report on the quality of the milk being sold in the market in packets. The report said that 53 milk samples were collected out of four were found unfit for consumption while some of them were fit but not up to the national standard.
The counsel representing one of the products said that they are manufacturing three different items but only one of them was found unfit while remaining were cleared. “We manufacture four items from same milk. How it is possible that two of them were fit and one was not fit,” he argued while requesting the court not to ban their product as it would cause them loss.”
“You will face only financial loss, but the milk may cause the loss of lives of the people who consume it,” the CJP remarked. “We will not compromise on this issue. The entire stock of substandard products should be brought back from the market,” the court ruled.
The litigants also stressed the need for establishing Food Authority to look into such issues and keep a vigilant eye on the food items being supplied to the citizens. The advocate general Sindh Barrister ZameerGhumro said that the bill to establish the Sindh Food Authority had already been passed by the provincial assembly. He added that the rules were made in this regard and the appointments were also being made, assuring the court that the authority would be functional within four weeks.