Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday issued a rule asking the government to explain in four weeks as to why the decision of the Commerce Ministry for importing cattle meat from abroad in spite of surplus production of cattle meat in the country should not be declared illegal.
At the same time, the court wanted to know in the rule to explain as to why the respondents
should not be directed to ensure the standard and quality of the production of cattle meat by ensuring the production of safe cattle food.
The High Court bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed in this regard.
Commerce Secretary, Fisheries and Livestock Secretary, Religious Affairs Secretary, Director General of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), and Director General of the Department of Livestock have been made respondents in the rule.
Advocate Mosabbir Hossain, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the writ petition with the High Court last week seeking necessary order.
Advocate Md Kamruzzaman and Advocate Nazmul Huda appeared in the court on behalf of the writ petition while Assistant Attorney General M Saiful Alam stood for the state.
After the court order, Advocate Kamruzzaman said, “According to the estimates of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Bangladesh’s annual demand for meat is 72.93 lakh tonnes, considering one person’s daily requirement being 120 grams. But the country produced 75.14 lakh tonnes of meat in fiscal 2018-19. In this circumstance, the government decided to import cattle meat from abroad. That is why we filed the writ petition.”
It was said in the petition that the Commerce Ministry was planning of importing cattle meat from abroad without having any proper testing system in place, which is unreasonable and very alarming for public health.
The High Court on Wednesday issued a rule asking the government to explain in four weeks as to why the decision of the Commerce Ministry for importing cattle meat from abroad in spite of surplus production of cattle meat in the country should not be declared illegal.
At the same time, the court wanted to know in the rule to explain as to why the respondents
should not be directed to ensure the standard and quality of the production of cattle meat by ensuring the production of safe cattle food.
The High Court bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed in this regard.
Commerce Secretary, Fisheries and Livestock Secretary, Religious Affairs Secretary, Director General of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), and Director General of the Department of Livestock have been made respondents in the rule.
Advocate Mosabbir Hossain, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the writ petition with the High Court last week seeking necessary order.
Advocate Md Kamruzzaman and Advocate Nazmul Huda appeared in the court on behalf of the writ petition while Assistant Attorney General M Saiful Alam stood for the state.
After the court order, Advocate Kamruzzaman said, “According to the estimates of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Bangladesh’s annual demand for meat is 72.93 lakh tonnes, considering one person’s daily requirement being 120 grams. But the country produced 75.14 lakh tonnes of meat in fiscal 2018-19. In this circumstance, the government decided to import cattle meat from abroad. That is why we filed the writ petition.”
It was said in the petition that the Commerce Ministry was planning of importing cattle meat from abroad without having any proper testing system in place, which is unreasonable and very alarming for public health.
