SHC directs Karachi commissioner to issue milk prices notice within 10 days

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the commissioner Karachi to issue a notification for fixing dairy products’ prices within 10 days.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, was hearing the petition filed by Imran Shehzad, a civil rights campaigner, who had moved the court for a reduction of rates of dairy products and formation of a task force to regulate their prices.

During the hearing, commissioner Karachi informed the judges that after several meetings between all stakeholders including dairy farmers, retailers and the administration for setting a manner of price fixation, they had decided to sell milk at Rs95 per litre. Later on, retailers had refused to accept this price. The retailers wanted to sell milk at exorbitant prices, he added.

Justice Abbasi asked as if it was possible that dairy farmers can directly provide milk to the consumers as everybody seemed busy to make a profit out of it. He asked all stakeholders to make a reasonable profit so as to provide relief to the common man

The lawyer representing the retailers requested the court to increase their profit by decreasing the same of wholesalers. They asked the court to set milk price at Rs98 per litre.

Directing the Karachi commissioner to issue fresh notification of dairy product prices within days, the court put off the hearing.