Ephedrine case: Shahabuddin’s acquittal application rejected

RAWALPINDI:

The Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) court on Monday rejected an application of former federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and issued notices to 14 suspects to appear before the court on September 15.

The former minister has filed an application in the court claiming that there is no evidence against him and he should be cleared of all charges.

CNS Special Judge Muhammad Akhtar Bahadur rejected the former health minister’s application on the ground that prima facie evidence exists against him.

The counsel for the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Shahid Abbasi, said the former minister had given an ephedrine quota of 6,500 kilogrammes to the pharmaceutical company Berlex and 8,500 kilogrammes to Danas by taking kickbacks worth Rs6 million.

He said the companies smuggled the controlled substance for use in making illegal drugs instead of manufacturing medicines, adding that charge-sheets have been produced before the court and ANF will provide further evidence so the suspects can be indicted.  The court also declared former health secretary Khushnod Lashari a proclaimed offender and ordered further action against him.

Meanwhile, anti-corruption judge Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan awarded 20-years imprisonment to a former police official for disobeying the Supreme Court’s order and tampering with official records.

The former SHO of Dhoke Ratta Jawad Abbas was convicted of refusing the apex court order of registering a rape case and tampering with the record by producing a fake record of the case before the court. He was also fined Rs0.1 million and has to spend one year extra behind bars if he fails to pay the fine.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2014.