01 January 2005	Saturday	19 Ziqa'ad 1425

LAHORE, Dec 31: A division bench of the Supreme Court was informed on Friday that bottled water being marketed by a multi-national company was injurious to health and that of another firm , official supplier of the Pakistan Railways, carried the high risk of causing stomach and other diseases to consumers.

The information came through sealed reports of water test of the two companies which the apex court itself ordered to the National Institute of Health at Islamabad and the PCSIR Laboratories in Lahore in the process of a writ petition that the multi-national company, Nestle, had moved in seeking a court injunction against the Pakistan Railways to cancel the contract of the Classic for the supply of bottled water and award that to it.

Comprising Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday and Justice Falak Sher, the bench took serious view of the reports observing that the firms were making the people to consume poison. The court also observed that rail passengers were particularly captive buyers as no hygienic water was available at platforms and inside trains.

The court directed the Pakistan Railways to look into the alarming situation and decide itself if the bottled water being supplied to passengers was fit for consumption. The court also directed the railways to award the contract of water supply after ensuring that the essential commodity did not carry hazards to the health of the people.