Staff Reporter :
The Chamber Judge on Thursday stayed the High Court’s observation that none can be forced to take the wheat imported from Brazil.
Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foyez Siddiqui passed the order after hearing a petition submitted by the Food Secretary and Food Directorate DG, seeking a stay on the HC’s July 8 directives.
The Chamber Judge stayed the order till July 26 and sent the petition to the four-member regular bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha for its hearing.
On Wednesday, the bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman observed there was no report with the court that the wheat, which had already been distributed, caused illness or harm to anybody’s health. “Based on the food department’s report, the court said that the wheat is perhaps okay and fit for human consumption,” Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas said.
However, the court also mentioned that some of the local laboratories claimed that they had found insects in the wheat, he said.
About two lakh tonnes of the Brazilian wheat were imported spending around Tk 425 crore. Of them, 174,926 tonnes have been distributed in the last four months to police, BGB, Ansar units and to various dealers and mills. It has also been set for Test relief and Foor-for-Work programmes.
