The High Court on Thursday directed the Services Selection Board (SSB) to report about the selection of staff to be recruited in Drugs and Food Control Organization.
While hearing its suo-moto Public Interest Litigationagainst food adulteration in Jammu and Kashmir, a division bench of ChiefJustice Gita Mittal and Justice Tashi Rabstan directed the SSB to submit withinfour weeks a status report indicating the selection of various non-gazettedposts to be recruited in the Drugs and Food Control Organization.
The direction came after the court perused the status reportfiled by Principal Secretary Health and Medical Education Atal Dulloo attestingthe sanctioned posts as well as the vacancy position in Food Safety Departmentand the steps taken for the recruitment of the staff.
Senior advocate Bashir Ahmad Bashir as amicus curie in thecase told the court that the report attests nothing important and is a mereeyewash. “They have repeated the same history of delaying tactics. The moredelay there is to implement Food Safety and Standard Act, the more unfortunateit is for the people,” he said.
Bashir also termed the report filed by Commissioner FoodSafety Dr Abdul Kabir as “cosmetic”.
In response to this submission, the State’s additionaladvocate General Shah Aamir said every step is being taken to implement theAct.
“Food adulteration is a serious issue and the government istaking it seriously,” Shah said.
Observing that the matter with regard to recruitment ofnon-gazetted staff apparently has been referred to SSB, the Court sought areport from the Board, listing the case for further consideration on May 10.
With regard to implementation of Food Safety and StandardAct 2006, the court on last date of hearing had observed that it was because ofnon-filling of some important posts including lab technicians andinstrumentation technicians that these labs were non-functional.
In 2016, the High Court had taken suo-moto cognizance ofnews reports on food adulteration and rising cancer incidence published in theGreater Kashmir and treated these as a Public Interest Litigation.