CHRO chairman K Panoor, in a petition to NHRC Chairman M N Venkatachaliah, said Hindustan Latex Limited, through its ``corrupt and unfair trade practices'', had been causing health hazards to Indians, particularly in North India where the literacy rate was low, It claimed that the CHRO had reliable information that Hindustan Latex had sold nine lakh expired condoms in Punjab during 1995-96.

This was done by financing the distributor to illegally repack a portion of condoms, it said. The rest of the expired condoms were pasted with false expiry dates and inflated maximum retail price. This was sold all over Punjab through the company's distributor there, the petition pointed out. Along with the petition, CHRO has also forwarded documents to prove its charges.

``The NHRC,according to its findings, may give suitable instructions to the HLL management and the Government authorities concerned to stop the ongoing practices which are harmful and dangerous to public health at large,'' the petition said.