The High Court on Sunday asked the chief controller (export and import) and the chairman of Chittagong Port Authority to inform the court within four weeks on how much soya bean oil had been imported in last six months and what their prices were.
The president and secretary of Vegetable Oil Refiners’ and Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association were asked to inform the court about the detail prices of different brands of soybean oil sold in last six months.
The court also issued a rule on the government to explain in two weeks why its inaction to stop increasing price hike of soya bean oil would not be declared illegal.
The secretaries of the commerce and finance ministries, chairman of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, chief controller of exports and imports, chairman of Chittagong port authority, inspector general of police, director general of Rapid Action Battalion, director general of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and the president and secretary of Vegetable Oil Refiners’ and Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association were asked to reply the rule.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain passed the order after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by six Supreme Court lawyers on behalf of Bangladesh Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, challenging the government’s inaction and failure to check the price hike of the edible oil.
The organisations drew the attention to the court on the report published by daily Prothom Alo on November 24 with the headline ‘Soybeaner dam barlo ek laphe liter-a 13 taka’—meaning ‘the price of soybean oil jumps up by Tk 13 at a time’.
Moving the writ petition, the petitioners’ counsel Manzill Murshid told the court that a section of dishonest businessmen and traders had raised the price of edible oil by manipulating the market. He also said that the price of the Soybean oil had not been increased legally.
‘It is the duty of the controller (imports and exports) to protect consumers’ rights, but the authorities had failed to do so,’ the counsel contended.
On November 24, oil millers raised the price of bottled soya bean oil by up to Tk 13 a litre with an immediate effect although the oil price on the international market has remained stable for two weeks.
Industry sources said a number of companies such as the City Group and the Meghna Vegetables Oil Ltd increased the price of their bottled soya bean oil by Tk 5 a litre and Rupchanda by Tk 13.
Packed soya bean oil sold for Tk 105 to Tk 115 a litre in the city’s kitchen markets on Tuesday.
The Meghna Vegetable Oil Ltd chairman, Mostafa Kamal, told New Age on the day the prices were increased that the millers had been selling oil at reduced prices for a few months at the request of the government.
‘Now we have been compelled to increase the prices because of a price increase on the international market,’ he said.
