Health secy, senior asst secy face contempt

The High Court yesterday issued a contempt of court rule against the secretary and a senior assistant secretary to the health ministry for not properly complying with its order about formation of a monitoring committee.

In the rule, the court asked them to explain in two weeks why legal action should not be taken against them for not complying with its April 3 order.

 Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) on Saturday filed the contempt of court petition. Following a writ petition filed by HRPB, the HC on April 3 directed the health secretary to form a five-member committee in 15 days to monitor whether the 28 drug companies were following the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) set by the WHO.

The ministry on June 18 formed a four-member committee without the representative from WHO, which is a violation of the HC's April 3 order, petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told The Daily Star.