The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that all ice cream production units of Gourmet Foods across Punjab be sealed and all other edible products of the company be assessed for quality checks.
The top judge was hearing an application filed by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) at the apex court’s Lahore registry.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar issued the orders after he was informed that harmful bacteria were allegedly discovered in samples of ice cream produced by Gourmet.
The product is among 47 brands of ice cream and frozen desserts that the PFA declared unfit for human consumption on Saturday. In his application, PFA Director General Muhammad Usman alleged that GNN news channel, which is owned by the Gourmet group, had started a “character assassination” campaign against him after the operation against the brand’s ice cream was carried out.
Justice Nisar remarked that such a TV campaign was tantamount to contempt of court and warned: “Why don’t [we] order the shutdown of GNN for a few days or permanently?” But instead of ordering closure of the news outlet, the CJP ordered the owners of Gourmet Foods and GNN to appear before the court today. The director general of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority was also ordered to be present.
What angered the top judge the most, however, was a call that he received on behalf of Gourmet, presumably to ask the CJP to extend favour or show leniency to the company. “How dare you make request for favourable treatment?” Justice Nisar asked GNN’s bureau chief Khalid Qayyum, who was present at the hearing. “What are kind of people are you to have a favour call made to me late at night?” the judge thundered, warning of “consequences” against persons indirectly seeking favourable treatment from the court.
Published in Daily Times, December 26th 2018.
