KARACHI - Despite of Sunday, three-member larger bench of Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, Justices Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah heard the cases of substandard packaged milk, environmental pollution and contaminated water.

Hearing the environmental pollution case, the chief justice wondered why there is a water shortage in the city. He asked the KWSB chief why water shortage is plugged with the use of tankers.

The KWSB chief replied that there are a number of informal settlements in the city devoid of any water lines.

Justice Shah added that the water lines are broken, due to which the water is wasted. When the chief justice inquired why there is a water shortage in the posh Defence Housing Authority locality of the city, the KWSB chief stated that the authority manages its own water.

Tankers’ operators have become a mafia, earning billions of rupees, asserted the chief justice, and asked who is behind contracting the tankers.

“If they go on strike we will deal with them, that is our job,” he remarked, referring to the tankers’ association.

The chief justice remarked further that the Sindh government was not providing water to citizens.

He also asked the KWSB chief to resign if he cannot fulfill his responsibility. During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that this is not an ordinary case but a very sensitive matter.

The chief justice ordered the Sindh government to provide security and an office to former Supreme Court Justice Amir Hani Muslim. The chief justice stated that Justice (retd) Muslim will be given powers of a sitting Supreme Court judge, including contempt powers.

If anyone impedes in the work of the water commission, the court will undertake transfer/postings, the chief justice observed. He also thanked all government officials who are attending the hearing for coming in on a holiday.

Sindh Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Managing Director Hashim Raza Zaidi, and Sindh Health Secretary Fazlullah Pechuho, among other officials, are attending the hearing.

Earlier, hearing substandard packaged milk case, he remarked that a collective effort is required to resolve issues affecting the public. As the proceedings began, the court Nazir (official) submitted a report on the matter, which was summoned the day before.

The chief justice ordered the chief secretary to direct the drug inspector to conduct market raids and confiscate injections used to enhance milk production in cows by infusing hormones.

He also ordered the Federal Investigation Agency and the drug inspector to evaluate the stocks of injection with distributors and retailers. During the hearing, representatives of milk companies submitted their response to the court. They stated that milk and tea whiteners are separate things, as tea whiteners are made from milk. To this, the chief justice remarked that “tea whiteners are not milk in any sense”.

“You have to give in writing, through advertisements on TV and print, that this is not milk,” he observed and gave the companies four weeks to ensure the warning is printed on packets.

The chief justice also observed that they will look at the matter of packaged milk first then move on to ‘open milk’. The chief justice also ordered the deputy Nazir to take Rs50,000 from all milk companies and have their product’s tests conducted by Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR).

The PCSIR was also directed to submit its report in two weeks and directed authorities to lift the entire stock of any company whose milk is found to be substandard.

CJP SUMMONS KARACHI MAYOR

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar on Sunday summoned Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar over issues regarding water and substandard milk in the city. The CJP conducted the hearing at Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry, and reprimanded Managing Director (MD) Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB).

WILL GIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO SC IN ONE WEEK: MAYOR

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Sunday said that he would give recommendations to the Supreme Court (SC) regarding Karachi issues in one week.

The mayor talked to media and said water is Karachi’s biggest issue. Illegal hydrants are installed in the city and water is being sold, he said. Wasim Akhtar also admitted that people remain deprive of water for as long as three months.

The mayor told that the apex court has asked for his help and suggestions to overcome the problems. He looked hopeful that Karachi’s issues will soon be solved.

The CJP directed Akhtar to bring an end to the tanker mafia at any cost within two to three months. Karachi’s infrastructure is destroyed and time has come to work for the city by rising above political gains, he commented.