The Islamabad High Court (IHC) division bench imposed fines of Rs100,000 on three prominent figures: Makhdoom Shahabuddin, a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and former federal minister, Dr. Asad Hafeez, former Director General of Health, and Ansar Farooq Chaudhry, the primary accused in a case related to the allocation and alleged smuggling of ephedrine quotas. It is reported that the court also dismissed the petitions filed by these individuals, who had been facing charges of ephedrine smuggling since October 11, 2011.
The accused had argued in their petitions that ephedrine should not be considered a drug, and, consequently, the case should be dismissed, leading to their acquittal. In a separate legal proceeding, the Anti-Narcotics Court has summoned all eight accused in the case to appear on November 16, where witness statements will be recorded. Additionally, statements from four approvers will be included in the upcoming hearing. Notably, one of the accused is Ali Mosa Gilani, the son of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Back in 2012, Makhdoom Shahabuddin filed a petition before the Supreme Court, alleging that the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had framed him in the case as a means to prevent him from contesting the elections for the position of Pakistan’s Prime Minister after the removal of Yousaf Raza Gilani. He asserted his absolute innocence and claimed no involvement in the allegations. Shahabuddin further pointed out that during the nine-month-long investigation, his name had not appeared in any of the charges, providing sufficient proof to halt any further inquiry into the case.
It’s worth mentioning that Shahabuddin was among the candidates considered to replace Gilani, who had been removed by the Supreme Court in a contempt case. Ultimately, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, nominated by the PPP-led coalition government, became the Prime Minister of the country.”
