The High Court has issued an order asking the government to form a seven-member expert committee to stop the usage of steroids to fatten sacrificial animals.
The secretaries of home ministry, commerce secretary, food secretary and family and welfare ministry were asked to form the committee.
The committee will consist of health experts, doctors, veterinary doctors and nutritionists.
The HC divisional bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Mohammad Ullah passed the order on Monday following a writ petition filed by Advocate Manjil Morshed on behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
The court also directed the expert committee to submit a guideline in this regard to the health ministry within eight weeks.
The court also issued a six-week rule calling upon the respondents to explain as to why their inaction and failure to take necessary steps to stop the usage of steroids to fatten the cattle, should not declared illegal.
On September 22, a writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking its directives on the government to appoint veterinary doctors for all cattle markets in the capital this year to examine health of the sacrificial animals.
Every year, artificially fattened cattle, especially cow, are sold as sacrificial animals at the cattle markets.
Allegations are rife that a section of traders use steroid (one kind of hormone group medicine) such as Dexamithason, Cortisol, Bitamithason, Hydrocortison and Ciproheptadine to fatten the cattle to earn high profit.
However, doctors cautioned that people consuming meat of artificially fattened cattle will be affected with various diseases, some critical.