KARACHI: An appellate bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) directed to send a well-known betel nut product for a laboratory test seeking a report till April 10.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by a petitioner Bilqis Bano, owner of Jaker Products at SITE Karachi in which the federal commerce secretary, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman, Ministry of Food Security and Research, plant protection director general, customs collector MCC East and West and collector appraisement were cited as respondents.
The petitioner maintained that Jaker Products is producing and marketing “Sanam Gold Sweet Supari” since a decade. The petitioner challenged SRO 1067 of 2017 issued under subsection 1 of section 3 of Imports and Exports Control 1950, under which the import policy was amended restricting the import of “Areca Nuts”.
The petitioner claimed that the consignments imported by her are free from pests and diseases. The bench, however, hearing the counsel for petitioner and counsel for Pakistan Customs observed that the foremost issue, in this case, is that whether the imported item is fit for human consumption or not. The bench with this observation ordered a sample to be drawn from the consignments in dispute and be sent for a laboratory test.
The bench sought the test report on or before April 10 while fixing April 10 as next date of hearing.
