RAWALPINDI: A division bench of the Lahore High Court has directed the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to submit a detailed report on the ephedrine quota case within two weeks.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi and Justice Shahid Jamil Khan, also attached Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi’s appeal for the release on health basis with a case against the Anti-Narcotics Court verdict against him in the ephedrine quota case.
The division bench also suspended the ANF new challan in this regard. Following the Anti-Narcotics Court decision, Hanif Abbasi had challenged the court verdict against him in the Lahore High Court. In the application, Abbasi’s lawyer took a stance that the ANF police had registered a case against his client and others on July 21, 2012.
The case was registered under the Narcotics Act. In the first information report (FIR), the police had nominated Razia Zahid Bakhtawar, an associate of Hanif Abbasi, a former member of the National Assembly. However, Razia was included in the list of witnesses and her name was removed from the FIR.
The police, therefore, registered a case against seven persons, included Hanif Abbasi. Following the situation, Hanif Abbasi approached the court and confirmed his bail before the arrest in the case and later appeared before an investigation team. Later, the Lahore High Court confirmed his temporary bail and rejected an application against his bail confirmation.
In the FIR, the ANF officials said that the substance was sold by Hanif Abbasi to narcotics smugglers who used it to make ‘party drugs.’ Hanif Abbasi and others accused were designated in 2014 by the anti-narcotics court. As many as 36 witnesses recorded their statements in the case.
