A Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) was issued by the government rendering the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) investigating the 'Ephedrine' scam that implicated Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's recently elected son Ali Musa Gilani dysfunctional and powerless through substituting Director General ANF with Secretary Narcotics Control.
On March 29, 2012, a three-member bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry rejected the request of counsel for ANF to withdraw the case 'Regional Director ANF versus Rizwan Ahmed Khan and others and sought record from the ANF.
It is worth mentioning that the rules were flouted in allocation of Ephedrine ingredient quota by the companies that are said to be the favourites of Musa Gilani. The chemical, which is also used in the production of psychotropic drugs, was sold out to smugglers to make windfall profits.
During the last hearing of the case, the Supreme Court was apprised by ANF Force Commander Brigadier Fahim that following the investigation, Tauqeer Ahmed Khan's name surfaced as personal secretary of Ali Mousa Gillani who got the approval of the quota against rules and regulations.
In pursuance of the court orders, Force Commander ANF Rawalpindi filed a Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA), arguing that Ministry of Narcotics Control had delegated all powers under the Control of Narcotics Substances Act (CNSA) 1997 to the Secretary Narcotics Control.
He contended that the SRO had been sent vide a cover letter on March 28, 2012, which was received by the ANF Directorate on April 2, 2012. Clandestinely, the date of the SRO is prior to the orders of the Supreme Court saying it is an attempt to frustrate the directions and orders of the apex court.
He further said that the ANF has been made a toothless body, which could not comply with the directions of the apex court fully because the SRO was issued to protect the individual responsible for the scam. He added that the Ministry of Narcotics control wrote a letter on April 3, 2012 to the ANF saying that they had pursued the FIR and had not recovered anything so far, hence there was no evidence of misuse of Ephedrine.
The applicant said the Establishment Division through a notification on April 6, 2012 repatriated DG ANG Major General Syed Shakeel Hussain back to Pakistan Army while giving Zafar Abbas an additional charge of acting secretary Narcotics. "All these notification are result of unlawful and ultra vires SRO of March 21, 2012 and are liable to be struck down as they are hindering the investigation and prosecution mandated by the apex court in the matter," the applicant added.
He prayed the court to restore the powers of ANF by declaring SRO ultra vires as it was interfering in the court orders of March 29,2012, adding that the orders of replacing DG ANF with Zafar Abbas be withdrawn immediately to implement the court orders in letter and in spirit. The applicant also requested the court to restrain Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister from interfering in the investigation or prosecution of the matter by ANF. It was also prayed that the instruction of Secretary Narcotic Ministry to forward the case to Drug Regulatory Agency of Pakistan be stopped forthwith.
Comments
Comments are closed.