Govt asked to stop selling 8 toxic powdered milk brands
Friday, 24 October 2008
The High Court (HC) Thursday directed the government to take immediate steps for issuing embargo on display or sale of suspected melamine-mixed powdered milk of eight foreign brands that had been sent abroad for laboratory test, reports UNB.
Diploma, Red Cow, Dano, Lashy-1, Lashy-2, Sweet Baby, Nido and Anlene come under the court edicts following a writ petition amid public concern over preliminary findings regarding the toxic chemical in the milk.
The HC direction will be in force until receipt of the laboratory test report from abroad.
Passing the order following a public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition, a division bench comprising Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Quamrul Islam Siddiqui issued a twin-rule upon the government to explain why its "failure to stop selling melamine-mixed toxic powered milk should not be declared illegal".
The HC also asked the government to show cause as to why a direction should not be given for taking necessary steps for protecting health security of the citizens.
"The rules are made returnable in four weeks," said the court in its orders.
Secretaries of the ministries of home, finance, commerce, and health, chairmen of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Atomic Energy Commission, the Director General of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had been made respondents to the writ.
Advocate Manzill Murshid, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), appeared for the writ petitioners.
The petitioners are Asaduzzaman Siddique, Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury, Moksadul Islam, Forhad Ahmed, Tapan Kanti Das, M Mamun Aleem, M Aklas Uddin Bhuiyan and Swapan Kumar Das.
Diploma, Red Cow, Dano, Lashy-1, Lashy-2, Sweet Baby, Nido and Anlene come under the court edicts following a writ petition amid public concern over preliminary findings regarding the toxic chemical in the milk.
The HC direction will be in force until receipt of the laboratory test report from abroad.
Passing the order following a public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition, a division bench comprising Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Quamrul Islam Siddiqui issued a twin-rule upon the government to explain why its "failure to stop selling melamine-mixed toxic powered milk should not be declared illegal".
The HC also asked the government to show cause as to why a direction should not be given for taking necessary steps for protecting health security of the citizens.
"The rules are made returnable in four weeks," said the court in its orders.
Secretaries of the ministries of home, finance, commerce, and health, chairmen of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Atomic Energy Commission, the Director General of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had been made respondents to the writ.
Advocate Manzill Murshid, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), appeared for the writ petitioners.
The petitioners are Asaduzzaman Siddique, Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury, Moksadul Islam, Forhad Ahmed, Tapan Kanti Das, M Mamun Aleem, M Aklas Uddin Bhuiyan and Swapan Kumar Das.