KARACHI, July 30: The Sindh High Court on Monday directed the Karachi commissioner to depute a senior and efficient officer to assist the court on the milk prices notified by the city administration.

A division bench headed by Justice Munib Akhtar gave this direction while hearing a contempt of court application filed by the All Karachi Milk Retailers Welfare Association against the city administration and others for not complying with the court’s earlier orders regarding the fixation of dairy product prices.

The bench also issued a notice to the commissioner for Aug 7 and directed him to depute a senior officer who could assist court whether the notification with regard to fixation of milk price was lawful and in accordance with the relevant law and the directions of the court.

The petitioner association submitted that the commissioner issued the impugned notification in violation of the court’s directions and fixed the price of the milk at Rs60 per litre without considering the production cost of the dairy product, which was unjust.

It submitted that the SHC had directed to decide the just price of milk from the stage of production cost, wholesale price and retailers’ valuation after consulting with all stakeholders including dairy farmers.

The milk retailers association submitted that the city government refused to verify the existence of milk wholesalers in the city while fixing the milk price.

It said that the city government did not regulate prices for the wholesalers and its act was arbitrary and capricious exercise of discretion.

The association also challenged the criminal and punitive action against its members by the city administration.