Ephedrine quota case: Appeal for cancelling bails of accused rejected

Says freedom of any person cannot be restricted only on the basis of doubt.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) for the cancellation of bails of over 18 people and maintained the status quo of their bails in the ephedrine quota case.

Freedom of any person cannot be restricted only on the basis of doubt against him noted the three-judge bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman.

The bench also noted that the ANF did not have solid evidence against the said 18 people and that was why the trial court and later on the high court dismissed ANF’s appeal for rejecting their bails. The ANF Rawalpindi’s Force Commander had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against more than 18 persons involved in the Ephedrine quota case who were granted bails from the trial court and high court.

The 18 persons include Hanif Abbasi, Dr Asad Hafeez, Anjum Shakir, Tauqeer Gilani, Farhan, Tauqeer Shah, Muhammad Hashim, Ehsan-ur-Rehman, Nadeem Zaffar, Ahmed Khan and others.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2013.