The Supreme Court on Friday confirmed pre-arrest bails of Federal Textile Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and Ali Musa Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, in the ephedrine quota allotment case. A three-member bench headed by Justice Nasir ul Mulk heard the pre-arrest bail petitions and rejected the Anti-Narcotics Force's (ANF) plea to investigate the two parliamentarians.
During the hearing, Sardar Ishaq, the counsel for Makdoom Shahabuddin, argued that statements of approvers, Dr Rasheed Jumma and Rizwan Ahmed Khan, should be disregarded because due process of law was not observed in recording them. Khalid Ranjha, the counsel for Ali Musa Gilani, contended that allegations against his client regarding taking kickbacks and exercising political influence to allot ephedrine quota were baseless.
A member of the bench, Justice Tariq Pervez, observed that allegations entailed misuse of his political position and making calls to certain individuals as opposed to possessing the controlled ephedrine. Khalid Ranjha stated that all public representatives made phone calls to address issues of their constituents, and maintained Ali Musa Gilani had not made any objectionable phone call in the matter.
On completion of arguments, lawyer for the ANF Shahid Abbasi pleaded that ANF's job description was to determine whether ephedrine quota was misused or not. He contended that political influence was evident in the case, saying it was on record that Tauqir Ahmed Khan, personal secretary to Ali Musa Gilani, used his influence to allot the drug quota.
He contended that ephedrine had been smuggled out of the country given that in 2010 demand of all pharmaceutical companies was 5,310 kilograms, but in 2011 a single company was allocated a quota of 6,500 kgs. He attempted to support the approver of the case Dr Rasheed Jumma upon which bench admonished him, saying that a public servant was bound to observe rules and regulations.
While talking to media persons after the hearing, Ali Musa Gilani said that it had been proven that the ANF tried to target him politically, but failed. Reposing his trust in the Supreme Court, he said that he was confident that justice would be served. Makhdoom Shahabuddin reiterated that there was no evidence against him thus his innocence had been established, adding that he had never been charged with corruption.
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