Going after drug barons: SC tells ANF to name the big fish
Court questions why seized assets of drug dealers not being auctioned.
Supreme Court of Pakistan. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to share the names of major drug barons.
A three-judge bench expressed dismay that only small fry were caught and the names of big drug dealers were never disclosed.
The apex court ordered the heavily-funded ANF to submit a comprehensive report about its performance regarding curbing of narcotics within a week.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry diverted its attention towards the performance of ANF, while hearing an appeal of the force for enhancing the sentence of a man caught with 40 kg of hashish.
The trial court had handed down life imprisonment to Saghir Hussain for carrying the huge cache of hashish, but the high court reduced his jail term to six years.
Expressing dissatisfaction over a report submitted by the ANF in response to an earlier order of the SC, the bench directed the ANF lawyers to submit a detailed report about why only petty carriers, including women and children, were arrested and the big drug dealers remained unnamed.
The seizure and auction of assets obtained through drug money was also brought up by the bench that also comprised of Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed.
Advocate Shahid Abbasi and Colonel (Retd) Muhammad Bashir representing ANF could not satisfy the bench as to why the properties of persons convicted of drug charges were not confiscated and sold. The SC then cited a 2006 judgment calling for the confiscation and sale of such properties.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2013.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to share the names of major drug barons.
A three-judge bench expressed dismay that only small fry were caught and the names of big drug dealers were never disclosed.
The apex court ordered the heavily-funded ANF to submit a comprehensive report about its performance regarding curbing of narcotics within a week.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry diverted its attention towards the performance of ANF, while hearing an appeal of the force for enhancing the sentence of a man caught with 40 kg of hashish.
The trial court had handed down life imprisonment to Saghir Hussain for carrying the huge cache of hashish, but the high court reduced his jail term to six years.
Expressing dissatisfaction over a report submitted by the ANF in response to an earlier order of the SC, the bench directed the ANF lawyers to submit a detailed report about why only petty carriers, including women and children, were arrested and the big drug dealers remained unnamed.
The seizure and auction of assets obtained through drug money was also brought up by the bench that also comprised of Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed.
Advocate Shahid Abbasi and Colonel (Retd) Muhammad Bashir representing ANF could not satisfy the bench as to why the properties of persons convicted of drug charges were not confiscated and sold. The SC then cited a 2006 judgment calling for the confiscation and sale of such properties.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2013.