ISLAMABAD, April 9: The firm that imported reportedly infected Australian wheat has given a final notice to the government through the ministry of food and agriculture, asking it to either pay Rs1,576 million damages or face legal action.

Tradesman, a Pakistani company, in its final legal notice served through its lawyers claimed that various tests carried out by different laboratories in respect of the four vessels carrying wheat were not bona fide.

It stated that the joint testing arranged at Islamabad after hue and cry of Tradesman and the Australian government was merely an eye wash. It claimed that the NARC that conducted the tests did not possess calibrated equipment. It stated that persistent refusal by Pakistan to permit foreign experts for joint testing was mala fide and without justification.

It also stated that no alternative supply was sought, which indicated that the original tender was invalid. The legal notice said the company had supplied 25,000 tonnes of wheat six days prior to the rejection of its first vessel, at Port Qasim under the World Food Programme, and its delivery was accepted.

The company said if Rs1,576 million were not paid within a week, it would move the Sindh High Court seeking a judicial review of "the illegalities committed and mala fide actions taken by the government."