SC stays HC ban on production, sale of Pran, Farm Fresh milk

The Appellate Division on Tuesday stayed a High Court order for eight weeks that asked 14 pasteurised milk-producing companies to refrain from producing, marketing and selling milk for five weeks, clearing the way for Pran Milk and Farm Fresh to produce and sell milk.

Supreme Court chamber judge Md Nuruzzaman passed the order after hearing an appeal filed by the two companies, seeking a stay on the HC order, reports UNB.

Attorney general Mahbubey Alam, deputy attorney general Md Murad Reza stood for the companies.

The HC bench of justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and justice Md Iqbal Kabir on 28 July ordered 14 pasteurised milk-producing companies to refrain from producing, marketing and selling milk for five weeks.

As of Tuesday, the Appellate Division permitted Milk Vita, Pran Milk and Farm Fresh, out of the 14 companies, to produce and sell milk by staying the HC order.

The other companies yet to get permission to produce and sell milk are -- Aarong Dairy, Igloo, Dairy Fresh, Milk Fresh, Milk One, Ultra, Ay-Ran, PURA, Aftab, Arwa and SAFE.

On 14 July, the High Court sought the test reports of pasteurised milk of all the companies within a week after testing the samples of those in four different laboratories -- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), BCSIR, Institute of Public Health, Food Safety Laboratory under the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute.

A new test conducted by professor ABM Faroque, former director of Dhaka University's Biomedical Research Centre, found traces of antibiotics in pasteurised products of Pran, MilK Vita, Igloo, Aarong and Farm Fresh.

On 25 June, scientists said they found the traces of detergent and antibiotics in samples of raw and pasteurised milk of Pran, Milk Vita, Igloo, Aarong and Farm Fresh.