The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the provincial government to expedite the process of legislation on consumer protection in the province.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Mushir Alam was seized with the petition of Rana Faizul Hassan, representing the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) United Human Rights Commission that had been seeking legislation on consumer protection.
The court observed that the matter had been pending on the docket Treasury Bench for a considerable time and when the legislation related to the public welfare and goods, it was received with a cold response, however, it was a matter of judicial notice and notice of the public at large, it would become law when it suited political exigency like Local Government Ordinance, which was more or less passed within the decided time.
It said that it was expected that before running out of the time the provincial government should do the needful for the welfare of the people. The court ruled, “Let the expectation of the court be communicated to the chief secretary and the secretary, law department and Sindh government to expedite the matter without further delay.
The petitioner stated that no legislation was ever introduced in the province by any government in the past that caused exploitation of consumers in urban and rural areas where they were being fleeced by traders.
He submitted that the district coordination officers in Punjab were authorised to take immediate action against such retailers if found involved in selling substandard items, but such a law did not exist in Sindh province.
He submitted that consumer protection laws had been enacted in all provinces except Sindh, and prayed to the court to direct the government to make legislation in order to provide protection to citizens against substandard commodities.
Earlier, the court had directed the law secretary to convene a meeting of all stakeholders in 30 days so that all concerns of the stakeholders could be addressed. It had further directed that process of legislation should also be expedited.
