A local milk processing company has been been found guilty and convicted for selling misbranded, substandard and unsafe milk products by a court in central Kashmirs Budgam district.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs nine lakh on it.
In his order yesterday, Sub Judge Imtiaz Ahmad Lone said, “Accused company M/S Khyber Agro Farms Pvt Ltd village Ladhoo Tehsil Pampore Pulwama is held guilty and is convicted through its Incharge Operational/nominated person Mohammad Shafi Ganie and is accordingly convicted for sections 51, 52 and 59 of FSS Act 2006”.
Besides imposing a penalty of Rs nine lakh on Khyber Agro Farms, the court also handed down a sentence of six months imprisonment to the accused company through the nominated person.
The court said in order to prevent further consuming of adulterated and substandard food items by the general public, the Commissioner Food Safety should collect the samples of all food items of the company and other companies for testing.
“Samples of all milk products, oil, ghee and other edible products available in the market in the name of the convicted company and other companies (be collected) and shall send it to Referral Laboratory Kolkata for opinion and action as warranted under law be initiated against the company whose product if declared unsafe, mis-branded and sub-standard or otherwise harmful for consumption.
“The Commissioner Food and Safety shall immediately take all steps in ensuring that the convicted company is closed or products are taken off from the market unless Referral Laboratory Kolkata declares that the products of the convicted company as safe to consume,” the court directed.
The court was acting on a complaint filed against the company on March 23, 2014.
In the complaint, the company was accused of selling sub-standard and misbranded food articles prohibited under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The prosecution has succeeded in establishing a case beyond reasonable doubt against the company for manufacturing milk products with detergent and declared unsafe, misbranded and sub-standard by the referral laboratory in Kolkata as well as during the trial of the matter, the court observed.
The court has also ordered removal of the Food Analyst, Kashmir, Hamidullah Dar.
“Let displeasure of the court be conveyed and reflected in his service records and the court lacks trust in him and justice has been all the time casualty at his hands. Person like Hamidullah Dar is more dangerous than a fatal disease like cancer for the entire nation,” it said.
( Source – PTI )
