The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the government to collect samples of five kinds of spices marketed by the Pran Agro Limited from the open market and conduct a laboratory test to find out whether those items contain any ingredients harmful to public health. The HC also asked the chairman and the chief of the chemical testing wing of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) to collect the powder of Pran chilli, coriander, garlic, ginger and cumin from the market and send those for tests within 48 hours and submit a report on its result within four weeks.
The HC bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Goni came up with the directives in response to a writ petition filed by rights body Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh..
The HC also issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks why the inaction of the government in taking steps to send samples of Pran’s spices for a laboratory test to identify ingredients which may endanger public health should not be declared illegal.
It also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to conduct laboratory tests of the spices of all companies after collecting samples from the open market to identify whether the products have any harmful ingredients.
The secretaries of health and food ministries, IG of police, DG of RAB, director of BSTI, chairman of BCSIR, and director of the Chemical Testing Wing have been made respondent to the rule.
The Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed the writ in December last year seeking directives from the High Court on the government to collect the samples of Pran’s powder spices for a laboratory test.
HRPB president Advocate Manzill Murshid submitted the petition on behalf of the organisation following reports published in various national dailies on different dates of November about harmful ingredients in the powder spices of Pran Agro Ltd.
-With The Independent input
