ISLAMABAD: Two most apt suo moto notices taken by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar within a few days of assuming the top office point to issues involving health and lives of citizens including hapless minor children specifically girls.
The start of the incumbency of the chief justice thus augurs well. It will hopefully contribute to correcting some despicable wrongs the Pakistani society has been subjected for decades and shaking relevant authorities, influential people and billionaire to have mercy on the masses and perform their primary responsibility towards the public at large.
Shortly after becoming chief justice, Saqib Nisar has decisively moved about real public importance matters, which have been agitating many minds, desiring a meaningful action. Another extremely significant matter relating to contamination of milk is already with the apex court for a conclusive judgment.
The first suo moto notice pertains to luckless 10-year old Tayyaba, who was tortured with a hot rod by the wife of a judge of the subordinate judiciary. The victim’s parents, who never met their daughter for the past two years when she was working as a house maid with this family but used to collect her monthly wages of Rs5,000, have pardoned the accused, stating in an affidavit filed with a court that they have no complaint to pursue and they have forgiven the perpetrators.
While the inhuman suffering the girl has to undergo caused immense anguish to many, her parents’ act shocked them more. In such cases, the pardon doesn’t come voluntarily but the victims’ elders are coerced into signing such document by well-connected and wealthy people to meet legal formalities to get the accused exonerated from the charge. The burn injuries on the face of the girl make mockery of the law and its implementers and speak of the plight of the resourceless, wretched people.
The second suo moto notice relates to the sale of substandard cooking oil by the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) outlets. It was prompted by a letter written by an Azad Kashmir citizen. Certain industrialists doing this business are earning billions of rupees at the cost of health of citizens without any check or balance.
Since this issue too needs a thorough testing of samples of cooking oil of local producers and foreign brands, the suo moto notice was direly required. Anybody who will pass the scrutiny will be allowed to do business while others will face the music that they deserved.
The apex court is already seized with another equally important issue -- adulteration of milk -- and several hearings have been held on it.
On December 28 while referring to the prevalent adulteration of chemicals, urea and cane juice in milk, Justice Saqib Nisar, who headed the concerned bench, remarked if they (judges) could not give pure milk to children, they do not have any right to work.
The panel also said that it would take up the issue of distribution of contaminated milk and water to its logical end. It formed a local commission to inspect different milk and water companies and asked the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) head to ensure completion of reports on samples taken from these companies.
The PFA is doing a fine job, but its operations are required to be expanded all over Punjab. Similar institutions in other provinces also need to do some work to save citizens from deleterious eating stuff.
Going through the reports proving contaminated material in milk produced and distributed by some companies, the bench had snubbed officials of these firms saying that no one would be allowed to play with the lives of innocent citizens.
Petitioner Barrister Zafarullah Khan submitted that according to the laboratory report of Pakistan Council of Scientific Industrial Research, there is detergent powder and dangerous chemical particles in not only loose but also packed milk of some companies. He said authorities had failed to take action against those responsible for providing contaminated milk in the market.
PFA Director General Noorul Amin Mengal submitted that they were taking action against the responsible companies. He said they had imposed hefty fines on some firms and issued orders of closure of some milk outlets. He said every person who was responsible was being dealt with in accordance with the law. He said the PFA had sent 300 samples of water and 30 samples of packed and loose milk for laboratory test.
At this, Justice Nisar remarked the court was well aware of the capacity of the laboratory test of PFA, which only had a scale and some other irrelevant items. He said the PFA laboratory had no modern machine to conduct the tests.
