KARACHI - The Supreme Court on Saturday ordered laboratory tests of all brands of packaged milk available in the market.

Hearing a suo motu case pertaining to sale of substandard packaged milk at the Karachi Registry, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar directed the relevant authorities to conduct laboratory tests of all brands of packaged milk products available in the city’s markets.

The CJP expressed annoyance at the concerned authorities’ failure to submit complete details to the court regarding administering injections to cows.

Addressing a representative of dairy farms, Justice Nisar remarked that injections administered to cows were resulting in breast cancer and other hormonal problems in women.

The chief justice desired to know in which districts injections were being administered to cows to increase their milk production, and summoned a report on use and confiscation of the injections, by 11 pm on Saturday night.

The CJP had taken notice of the sale of substandard packaged milk earlier this week.

The chief justice, in the Lahore Registry, is already hearing the matter of sale of unsafe milk in Punjab as part of its suo motu notice on public welfare issues.

Hearing that case on January 6 in Lahore, Chief Justice Nisar had remarked that the old and young alike were forced to consume cancer-infested milk, adding that formalin, a food preservative, was present in all packaged milk.

During the hearing, the bench, which also includes Justice Ijazul Ahsan, banned the use of injections in cows to increase their milk production capacity across the country.

ORDERS INSPECTION OF PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGES, GOVT HOSPITALS

The Supreme Court on Saturday constituted a five-member inspection team to carry out inspection of private medical colleges and delivery of services at government hospitals in Sindh.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, who headed a three-member bench at Karachi Registry of the apex court, was hearing suo motu cases pertaining to poor services at public sector medical facilities and deteriorating standards of medical education at private medical colleges in the province.

The inspection team comprises the vice chancellors of Dow University of Health Sciences and Jinnah Medical College as well as Advocate Shahab Usto and Faisal Siddiqui.

It has been mandated to visit medical colleges to scrutinise their admission policies. The team will also visit government hospitals to ascertain whether equipment, ventilators, oxygen, incubators, CT Scan, MRI, ambulances etc were available there.

CJP Nisar clarified that the court will not annul any admissions but will set standards for admission to medical and dental colleges.

He restrained the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) from registering any private college, observing that the court was currently scrutinising the entire admission process of colleges.

The heads of medical and dental colleges in the province have been directed to submit affidavits that their institutions were adhering to the required standards for medical education and whether the colleges were well-equipped and having all necessary facilities.

The chief justice said the court will provide the medical superintendents of government hospitals with a questionnaire with regard to service delivery and availability of equipment at their medical facilities to fill out.

They have also been directed to submit affidavits in this regard.

PUBLIC SHOULD NOT FACE DIFFICULTIES DUE TO VVIP ROAD BLOCKADES

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said Saturday that people should not have to face difficulties due to VVIP road blockades.

Hearing a suo motu case of road blockades due to VVIP movements at the Supreme Court Karachi Registry, Justice Saqib Nisar inquired from IG Sindh AD Khawaja why public roads were blocked for VVIP movements.

To this, AD Khawaja responded that traffic was only stopped for two minutes to facilitate VVIP movement. Roads were not blocked; instead, mere arrangements were made for VVIP movements.

The chief justice stated that arrangements should be made to ensure public does not face hardships. The public faces difficulties when roads are blocked for VVIPs, he remarked.

The CJP then directed IG Sindh to submit an affidavit stating that the roads would not be blocked for [longer periods of time]. He further remarked that the court would review the affidavit and ensure the public rights are protected.

On January 8, the chief justice had taken suo moto notice of the condition of government hospitals in Karachi and traffic blockades on public roads across the country due to VVIP movements.