SHC hears milk price and animals welfare cases

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the provincial chief secretary, Karachi commissioner, Sindh Food Authority and others on a petition against sale of milk at increased prices.

Petitioner Abdul Sattar Hakim submitted in the petition that the high court had earlier fixed milk price at Rs90 per litre as per the government notification; however, milk sellers in different parts of the city were selling milk at Rs140 per litre in violation of the court order.

The petitioner said complaints had been filed before the Sindh Food Authority and the Commissioner Office against the sale of milk at higher rates but no action was taken and instead the Commissioner Office had given a free hand to the milk sellers’ association to sell milk at higher rates.

A counsel for the petitioner informed the SHC that the Commissioner Office had failed to perform its lawful duty of ensuring that milk was sold at the notified price in the city. He added that the illegal sale of milk at higher rates had badly affected the lives of the general public, especially children and infants.

The high court was requested to direct the food authority and Commissioner Office to ensure that milk was sold at the notified price, and restrain the milk sellers from selling milk at higher rates.

The petitioner also requested the SHC to direct the Sindh Food Authority to ensure that milk available at the shops was free of chemicals so that it did not harm children and others.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the Karachi commissioner, Sindh Food Authority and others, and called their comments.

Plea for zoo animals

The SHC has directed the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and conservator wildlife department to file comments on a petition calling for providing natural habitat to the animals at the Karachi Zoo.

Petitioner S Yahya Ahmed, a representative of a non-governmental organisation, submitted that the zoo administration was responsible for causing a significant harm to the animals presently kept in the zoo.

He said there had been reports of deaths and illnesses of animals residing at the zoo but the administration was reluctant to disclose information about the health and well-being of the animals.

The petitioner submitted that the lioness at the zoo seemed to be excessively fatigued while a monkey was also living in an extremely small cage and did not receive adequate care. He said the zoo administration did not make any attempt to recreate the tiger’s natural habitat and the enclosure evidently served as a cage rather than a sanctuary.

He submitted that the zoo administration must be held accountable to the public at large and ordered to reform its practices and procedures to improve the zoo as per international standards.

According to the petitioner, animals at the zoo were being subjected to inhumane conditions and their treatment was in utter violation to the Section 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1890.

The SHC was requested to direct the zoo administration to provide the list of all the existing animals as well as those that had passed away during the last decade, and disclose their medical record. The petitioner also requested the high court to convert the status of the zoo to a wildlife sanctuary and hire an experienced independent veterinary doctor to conduct health assessment of all the animals presently residing there.

The KMC and wildlife department officials appeared before the court and requested time to file comments on the petition.