Court slaps fine on PPP’s Shahabuddin in ephedrine case

IHC division bench also fines ex-DG health and primary accused who contend stimulant can't be classified as a ‘drug’

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) division bench on Saturday slapped fines of Rs100,000 each on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and ex- federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, former Director General of Health Dr Asad Hafeez, and the primary accused, Ansar Farooq Chaudhry, in a case related to the allocation of ephedrine quotas and its alleged smuggling.

The court also rejected the petitions filed by the aforementioned individuals, who were facing charges of ephedrine smuggling, Express News reported.

The case, dating back to October 11, 2011, saw the Anti-Narcotics Force register charges against the trio.

Read More: Ephedrine case: Makhdoom Shahabuddin moves SC over pre-arrest bail

The accused argued in their petitions that ephedrine should not be classified as a drug, and therefore, the case should be dismissed and they must be acquitted.

In a separate proceeding, the Anti-Narcotics Court has summoned all eight accused in the case to appear on November 16 to record statements of witnesses. Additionally, the court will record statements from four approvers during the upcoming hearing. Notably, among the accused is Ali Mosa Gilani, the son of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Read More: Gilani no longer prime minister

Shahabuddin, back in 2012, filed the petition before the Supreme Court, accusing the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) authorities of framing him in the case just to deter him from contesting the elections for the slot of Pakistan’s premiership after the removal of Yousaf Raza Gilani as the PM.

He contended that he was absolutely innocent and had nothing to do whatsoever with the allegations. He further argued that during the nine-month long investigation, his name was not mentioned in any of challans in any category – which he said was sufficient proof to stop any further inquiry into the case.

It is pertinent to mention that Shahabuddin was among the contenders to replace Gilani who was removed by the SC in the contempt case. However, the then coalition government led by the PPP nominated Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who later went on to become the prime minister of the country.