The High Court has ordered the National Bureau of Revenue (NBR) to submit a detailed report on December 5, over the toxic chemicals used in preservation of fruits, and explain the reason behind its failure to install chemical testing units at land ports across Bangladesh.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahsan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader issued the order after hearing a petition filed by a rights organization Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) on Sunday.
Advocate Manzil Murshid stood for the petition while Deputy Attorney General ABM Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar represented the state.
Confirming the court order, Barrister Sarkar M R Hassan, lawyer for Bangladesh standard and testing institution (BSTI), said: The court also ordered to the BSTI verbally to submit a report on December 5 about the types of harmful chemicals being used in preserving fruits.
On July 15, 2014, a High Court bench released the copy of the full order of February 29, 2012, that directed the NBR to buy and install testing machines at every land port. The High Court bench came up with the verdict following a writ petition filed by a rights organization Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), seeking directives to ask the government to stop the use of chemicals in fruits.
On June 23, 2014, the High Court bench asked the NBR to inform it about the latest status of a previous order regarding the buying and installing of machines at land ports, and also to conduct year round random drives, and to submit reports every two months.
On February 29, 2012, the High Court released a verdict to stop the use of chemicals in fruits following a writ filed by HRPB.
The High Court, in its directives, asked government agencies to prepare a guideline to stop the use of chemicals to ripen fruits within six months, and circulate it among field-level administrations. The court also kept the case as a mandamus so that it could give necessary directives at any time as and when needed.
