SC seeks report on milk, mineral water

LAHORE

A Supreme Court bench on Thursday sought a comprehensive report from the Punjab government about the supply of substandard milk and mineral water, use of steroid injections to boost milk production of buffaloes and for quick growth of poultry.

 The bench comprising Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman was hearing a petition filed by Barrister Zafarullah Khan of Watan Party.

 The lawyer alleged that not only loose milk but  packaged milk being consumed by citizens was also adulterated with chemicals including detergent power, which were not fit for human consumption.

 He said the use of contaminated and substandard milk had been leading to serious diseases in citizens including Hepatitis-C.

He further said there was not a single laboratory in Pakistan that had the capability to gauge contamination of chemicals in milk and water.

Barrister Khan said citizens were being fed poison by the use of steroids for boosting milk production of buffaloes and quick growth of broiler chicken.

The bench expressed serious concern over the lawyer’s submissions and sought a detailed report from the government on the matter within two weeks.

The bench also directed Advocate General Punjab to produce record of a petition pending before the Lahore High Court for last eight years against the sale of substandard mineral water.

transferred: The Lahore High Court on Thursday transferred and posted thirty-one sessions judges at various places in Punjab. 

LHC registrar Syed Khursheed Rizvi issued the notification of transfer and posting of the session judges. The notification is available on the LHC website.

The session judges have been directed to assume the charge of their new postings till August 1.

Respect for law: Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) Chairman Qamar ul Islam Raja has said that social norms based on respect for law are basis of true democratic society. 

Delivering a keynote lecture on ‘democracy and rule of law’ to the newly recruited staff of Punjab Safe Cities Authority at Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines on Thursday, he said Pakistan was lucky that the positive societal norms like peaceful coexistence and tolerance had been intrinsically infused in the public behaviour since long.

In fact, Punjab is called a land of changing vistas which has played important role in strengthening democratic behaviour in society; he said and added, “We should, therefore, always act as law-abiding citizens." 

Qamar ul Islam Raja said democracy and rule of law were hallmarks of any democratic society, adding that Pakistanis were a peaceful nation by nature.

He observed that public approach towards police should be positively transformed as this was the pivotal organ of state for the protection of people.

He hoped that Punjab Safe Cities Authority would play its active role in establishment of a safe and secure society.