Ephedrine case: Abbasi withdraws petition against ANF

Fresh case registered against PML-N leader’s pharma company.

RAWALPINDI: Opposition lawmaker Hanif Abbasi on Thursday withdrew a Lahore High Court petition claiming harassment by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) which had earlier registered a case against him for alleged misuse of 200 kilograms of ephedrine.

Justice Sheikh Najamul Hassan and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan of LHC’s Rawalpindi bench were to hear the petition but Abbasi, who represents Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the National Assembly, withdrew the plea through his counsel Sardar Ishaq Khan. ANF deputy director Abid Zulfiqar, the investigation officer, along with the special public prosecutor informed the high court bench that a fresh case has been registered against Grays Pharmaceutical Company, owned by Hanif Abbasi, for misuse of the ephedrine quota.

The prosecutor told the court that the petition filed by the MNA was against the inquiry and it had no legal standing after registration of the criminal case under narcotics charges against the accused and his employees.

Zulfiqar said 99 pharmaceutical companies were investigated for the allocation and misuse of ephedrine, 28 were under vigilance and all others were cleared. Following preliminary investigation ANF had registered criminal cases against five companies including Gray Pharmaceuticals.

He said the MNA and his company could not satisfy investigators about where the chemical was used as 500 kg ephedrine was obtained in 2010. Following this the ANF registered criminal case against him on July 30 2012.

Abbasi alleged that the investigators were pressuring his staff to become approvers against him. The PML-N legislator said his firm manufactured De Asm 30mg containing ephedrine and sufficient tablets were handed over to the ANF for verification.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2012.