ISLAMABAD: Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Court here today has convicted PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi in Ephedrine Quota Case and handed him life imprisonment. 
Hanif Abbasi was arrested from the courtroom and taken to Adiala Jail via ANF mobile. The other seven co-accused in the Ephedrine Quota Case have been acquitted on the basis of benefit of doubt.
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Readers may recall that in the first quarter of 2011 nine thousand kilograms of Ephedrine was allocated to two pharmaceutical companies in violation of the International Narcotics Control Board rule dictating that no single concern could be given a quota of Ephedrine exceeding 500 kilograms.
Hanif Abbasi (along with others) was accused of selling Ephedrine Quota (Abbasi got allocated to his company Messrs. Gray Pharmaceuticals) to narcotics dealers instead of manufacturing medicines. A case was registered against him in the mid of 2012 under section 9-C, 14.
It is pertinent to mention here that Hanif Abbasi was contesting the 25th July 2018 election from Rawalpindi NA-60 against Sheikh Rashid who heads Awami Muslim League.
While savants at the helm of the affairs eye timing of the verdict with suspicion, cynics go haywire learning that Sheikh Rasheed (an ally of Imran Khan) has almost reached the Assembly without elections thanks to the conviction.
It is important to mention here that on 11th of July (2018) LHC had ordered the CNS Court to fix daily hearings and proclaim the verdict by the 21st of July (2018).
Shehbaz Sharif took to the twitter to lament that PML-N was being targeted:”The timing and manner of the judgment of Hanif Abbasi clearly shows a discriminatory attitude towards PML-N, targeting our party on the eve of the polls when PML-N is on the verge of winning the polls.”
A relevant piece published earlier: ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gillani’s son, Ali Musa Gillani and ten others were charged in an ephedrine scandal on Friday. The charges were imposed by a special Anti-Narcotics Court which indicted PPP leader’s son, Ali Musa along with 10 others including former health minister Makhdum Shahabuddin, health ministry official Abdul Sattar and Dr. Abdul Khaliq. According to the court, the accused were involved in allowing two Pakistani pharmaceutical companies, Berlex and Danas to obtain a huge amount of ephedrine and providing it to people in the drug trade who could have used it to make meth worth billions of dollars. However, the companies denied any wrongdoing. The accused have been directed to appear in the court on next hearing which has been scheduled for May 12. (Published on 21st April 2018)
