KARACHI: A divisional bench of High Court of Sindh comprising Justice Adnan Iqbal Choudhry and Justice Muhammad Hasan (Akber) withdraws a contempt of court notice issued to Yasin Murtaza, Director of Plant Protection Department (DPP) in view of directions issued by Prime Minister of Pakistan for drafting SOP’s for sampling and testing of imported betel nuts.
The notices were issued on an application filed by petitioner company Messer’s Silver Enterprises represented by Ahmed Ali Hussain and Kuldeep Kumar Advocates. Sardar Zafar Hussain appeared for the Pakistan Customs while alleged contemnor DG DPP was represented by Additional Attorney General for Pakistan Moshin Kadir Shahwani assisted by DPG Ms Mehreen Ibrahim.
As the petition came up for hearing, alleged contemnor filed a written reply to the Show Cause Notice explaining reason for withholding the consignments of petitioner company. He told the court that out of 14 consignments 6 were released fully and 2 partially, however in the meanwhile on 24.04.2026, Prime Minister issued some directions for sampling and restesting of consignments at Port. The directives also include revised level of aflatoxin from 15 ppb to 30 ppb for consignments still awaiting clearance.
The bench held that “”Public health outweighs any financial loss suffered by the Petitioner”. With the above order, the bench withdrew SCN issued to the DG DPP.
The full text of order follows separately.
SHC withdraws contempt notice issued to DG DPP