‘Bad wheat’ from Brazil: HC wants answers

The government has been told to clarify if the wheat it bought from Brazil for Tk 4 billion is suitable for human consumption.

High Court Justices Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Taher Md Saifur Rahman gave the order after hearing a petition on Tuesday. 

The food secretary and director general of food have been told to inform the High Court about the quality of the wheat in the next 72 hours.

The matter is in the court’s cause list for July 5.

Pavel Miah, a lawyer, filed the petition using information available in newspaper reports.

He demanded the wheat be tested by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute.

He also pleaded for a probe by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to see if the wheat was ‘below standard’.

The Food Ministry and the Directorate General of Food were playing ‘hide and seek’ with 200,000 tonnes of ‘rotten wheat’ bought with Tk 4 bn from Brazil, a newspaper recently reported. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered a probe committee be formed but that has not yet happened.

The wheat, the report said, was being distributed among police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Ansar, the prisons, dealers and flour mills and also for Test Relief and  Food for Work (Kabikha) programmes.

Critics demanded that Food Minister Qamrul Islam resign over the 'bad wheat', but he presented two reports to prove the wheat was of good quality on Sunday.

“The wheat is perfectly fine. The tests done by the Directorate General of Food and science laboratory (Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) have made it clear," he said.

“I’m satisfied with the standards.”