CJP bans sale of packaged milk from four companies in Sindh

KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar on Saturday banned the sale of packaged milk from four companies in Sindh while hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the sale of substandard packaged milk at the Karachi Registry.

The CJP headed the three-judge bench that made the decision while hearing a case regarding the use of illegal chemical injections on farm cows.

Sindh’s authorities have subsequently been told to remove milk belonging to Day Fresh, Nurpur, Day Fresh UHT and Sky Milk from sale racks.

The ban on the four companies was put in place after the court reviewed a report on the matter complied by Advocate Muhammad Worah, who is assisting the court in the case.

According to the report, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has declared milk from all four companies unfit for human consumption. The report further pointed out that milk from three more companies had not met the standards set by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority.

It was also stated in the report that a total of 53 brands were tested for a quality check, out of which these four brands turned out to be below standard.

While adjourning the case till the next session of the SC’s Karachi registry, Justice Nisar ordered companies producing tea whiteners to state on the packaging that their product is not a substitute for milk.

A similar case was also heard in the Lahore registry of the SC on January 8. There, too, Justice Nisar had prohibited dairy farmers from injecting hormones in cows and buffaloes to increase milk production.

Justice Nisar, in his remarks to a representative of dairy farmers, stated that the injections administered to cows are resulting in breast cancer and other hormonal problems in women.

The chief justice demanded to know in which districts injections are being administered to cows to increase their milk production, and summoned a report on use and confiscation of the injections.