LHC acquits Hanif Abbasi in ephedrine case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court acquitted Hanif Abbasi, a senior leader of the PMLN, of the charge related to alleged misuse of ephedrine quota on Wednesday.

The court also declared his lifetime sentence, which was awarded by a special court of narcotics control on July 21, 2018, just days before the last general elections, null and void.

A two-member bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Asjad Javed Ghural, announced the verdict it had reserved a day earlier on Abbasi’s appeal against the conviction.

Abbasi was awarded life imprisonment by a special court for Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) along with a fine of Rs1 million just a few days before the 2018 polls and was disqualified as a result of the contest against Sheikh Rashid Ahmad of the Awami Muslim League from NA-60, Rawalpindi.

The case against him and the other co-accused was registered by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in 2012 under sections 9-C, 14, and 15 of the Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Act for misuse of 500 kg ephedrine.

Abbasi’s lawyers argued that his conviction was politically motivated, as only one out of eight suspects in the case had been convicted, and that was the appellant. They argued that the appellant had never misused the ephedrine quota, but the trial court ignored the basic legal questions before handing down the sentence.

They also challenged that ephedrine did not fall within the definition of a scheduled drug or controlled narcotic, but the trial judge relied upon a definition of ephedrine explained on Google.

Speaking to the media after his acquittal, Abbasi said he had fought the politically motivated case for 11 years and also spent 11 months in jail. He said this political victimisation had kept him out of the two elections, and his daughter was also fired from her job. Besides, his younger brother was kept in illegal confinement for 14 days.

He expressed his resolve to contest the coming elections against his main rival, Sheikh Rashid, if the latter contested. He also announced that he would take out the largest caravan from Rawalpindi to welcome PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif on his return from London this week.

Meanwhile, former prime minister and PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif met party leader Hanif Abbasi here on Wednesday.

Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Hanif Abbasi on his acquittal in the ephedrine case. He also garlanded Hanif Abbasi and his son and said the party was proud of his courage and bravery.

He also discussed the welcome plan of Nawaz Sharif. Hanif Abbasi assured the former PM that he would lead a large crowd from Rawalpindi to Lahore on October 21, 2023.

Hanif Abbasi thanked Shehbaz Sharif and the party for their support and said he could not forget the way the leadership and party had supported him.