Responding to a government appeal, a Supreme Court Chamber Judge has stayed the High Court ruling ‘not to force’ imported Brazilian wheat on anyone until July 26.
The judge has referred the issue to a full Appellate Bench for hearing.
The food secretary and the director general for food went to the judge on Thursday to appeal the High Court verdict delivered a day earlier.
Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique issued the stay order on the High Court verdict.
After the order, Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Haque Tutul said, “The court stayed the High Court ruling until July 26 and referred the issue to the full bench of the Appellate Division for hearing.”
Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon stood for the petitioners.
On Wednesday, the High Court had ruled that the government must not force anyone to consume the wheat bought from Brazil.
It also ruled that the government must take back the grain if anyone who had received it wanted to return it.
The Brazilian wheat had already been supplied to police, BGB, Ansar units and to various dealers and mills. It had also been provided for test relief and Food-for-Work programmes.
Bangladesh imported 200,000 tonnes of wheat from the South American country and a recent newspaper report said it was “rotten and unfit for human consumption”.
The BNP demanded the resignation of the food minister over the wheat episode.
But Minister Qamrul Islam presented two reports to prove the wheat was fine.
On Jun 28, a lawyer, Pavel Miah, filed the petition demanding a probe by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to see if the wheat was ‘below standard’.
After hearing the matter, the High Court told the government to clarify within 72 hours whether the wheat was edible.
On July 5, the food department’s report was submitted to the court.
The report cited previously conducted tests by the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Agriculture Research Institute and the Dhaka University, which had cleared the wheat as fit for consumption.
It also said that out of the 205,128 tonnes of the Brazilian wheat, 174,926 tonnes had been distributed over the last four months.
Source: Bd news24
Food Minister Qamrul Islam was not supposed to import the food grains. It is the job of the Commerce Minister (under Trading Corporation of Bangladesh – TCB) to do all the importing on behalf of the government of Bangladesh. Mr. Quamrul Islam took upon himself to do the importing to make money. Perhaps he was aiming at about USD 1 million for himself. He used an inspection company SGS to do the dirty work of certifying that the food grain was acceptable. SGS (a Swiss Company) is well known for making cozy certificates for the money. They have done a lot of dirty business in Bangladesh and have made a lot of money. A person like Mr. Quamrul Islam should be hanged to show that crooked politicians have no place in Bangladesh. But he will stay in his position. Thanks to her highness Sheikh Hasina. He is in her good books. Corruption is acceptable for the higher up like Quamrul Islam.