LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) Sunday ordered forensic audit of Nestle mineral water operations. The bench appointed Kokab Jamal as the forensic auditor and sought a report within 15 days regarding cost, rates and others. The bench also ordered for checking quality of all major mineral water brands.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, passed the orders while hearing a suo motu notice regarding alleged exploitation of groundwater resources without any charges and its fitness for human consumption. At the outset of proceedings, the chief executive officers/ representatives of major mineral water companies appeared before the bench on being summoned.
The chief justice noted that the companies were paying almost nothing as tariff for extracting groundwater, but they were selling their bottled water at exorbitant rates.
He asked that the companies should sit with the government and decide an appropriate rate, adding that the WASA board had already suggested an increase in the tariff.
He said that Nestle earned six billion rupees in profit last year. Aitzaz Ahsan, on behalf of Nestle, requested for one-month time for submitting proposals on the matter.
However, the chief justice declined the request and ordered forensic audit of Nestle mineral water and sought report within 15 days. He also observed that big societies including Bahria Town, which get water from ground and charge residents for the same.
These societies do not pay anything to the government, he observed and added that the court would take up the case of big societies soon.
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