Dhaka: The High Court stayed its order till 26 July which asked government not to force any government employee to take the imported wheat from Brazil. A HC bench led by Justice Foyez Siddique stayed the order after conducting a hearing on Thursday afternoon.

Prosecution lawyer attorney general Mahbube Alam and petitioners’ lawyer Mahbubuddin Khokon joined the hearing.
The bench also fixed 26 July for a hearing on the issue.

Earlier on 9 July, the court ordered government to take back the wheat, imported from Brazil, if it was forcefully sold or handed over to any government employee.

Earlier on 5 July, prosecution submitted a report on the imported wheat from Brazil. The report says it has been known by test that the wheat imported from Brazil is edible. The wheat contains a small amount of insects which can be removed by spraying insecticide.

On 29 June, a writ petition was filed with the high court demanding probe into the issue of importing wheat. In the writ, it was said that the food ministry has imported 2 lakh tonnes of rotten wheat which costs Tk 400 crore.

Recently, questions rose about the quality of the wheat imported from Brazil. Even the Prime Minister showed anger over the quality of the wheat.

But the Food Minister Kamrul Islam termed those questions baseless.

Later, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) demanded a probe committee to be formed to find out the importers of the wheat. Also the party demanded the resignation of the food minister.

On 24 June, The food ministry informed that no uneatable wheat was found after re-examining the imported wheat.

Reports were published in media claiming the imported wheat harmful for human body.

The Institute of Food Science and Technology of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) said the imported wheat is of low quality.