Ephedrine case: Pre-arrest bails of pharma company owners extended

Extension granted till April 23; defendants challenge ANF’s jurisdiction, request annulment of charges.


Mudassir Raja April 12, 2012

RAWALPINDI:


A court on Thursday extended the pre-arrest bails of the owners of two pharmaceutical companies accused in the illegal sale of ephedrine till April 23.


A division bench of the Lahore High Court, comprising Justice Rauf Ahmed Sheikh and Justice Shahid Hameed Dar, gave the orders during a hearing regarding the bail pleas of Danas Pharmaceutical Islamabad Chief Executive Ansar Farooq Chaudhry and Berlex Lab International Multan Chief Executive Iftikhar Khan Babar.

The two accused, in their petitions, had requested that the criminal charges registered against them by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Rawalpindi be annulled.

The defence counsels, Advocate Munir Paracha representing Chaudhary and Advocate Tanveer Iqbal representing Babar, maintained that ANF has no jurisdiction over the quotas of ephedrine, or its use in the manufacture of medicines. They added, ephedrine was not a controlled substance under Control of Narcotics Substance Laws as it is used to manufacture medicines to treat respiratory diseases.

So far no report of chemical examination citing ephedrine as a narcotics substance had been brought on record by the investigation agency, said Paracha. He added if any irregularity had been committed, the case could be initiated under drug laws.

Meanwhile, ANF director general, in his statement to the court, maintained that the two companies unlawfully obtained quotas for the export of ephedrine to Afghanistan and Iraq. They later used the quotas as a license to consume the chemical locally and sell the manufactured medicines in the market.

Both the companies did not submit a consumption report of the controlled chemical to the Ministry of Health after getting the new quotas, he said.

The ANF head said that International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) had allocated an annual quota of 500kg of ephedrine for Afghanistan and 2,500kg for Iraq, whereas the companies got approved quotas of 6,000kg for Afghanistan and 3,000kg for Iraq.

He said that even for local consumption a maximum quota of 1,000kg ephedrine is allowed per year. He said that ephedrine has been cited as a controlled item under the Drugs of Abuse Rules schedule-V.

The case regarding the illegal sale of ephedrine was registered on October 10 last year, after the two pharmaceutical companies were accused of obtaining export quotas for the drug in collusion with the health ministry officials that exceeded the limits fixed by the INCB.

Later, ANF’s investigation team had allegedly established a direct link between Ali Musa Gilani and the multi-billion drug scandal.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2012.

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