Court to announce Hanif Abbasi's fate in Ephedrine case today

RAWALPINDI: The decision on Hanif Abbasi’s disqualification or eligibility to contest polls from NA-60 will be announced today by a special court hearing the narcotics smuggling case against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader.

A day earlier, Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench dismissed Abbasi’s dismissed his appeal seeking review of its decision to conduct daily hearings in the ephedrine case.

The bench upheld the previous verdict which also directed an anti-narcotics court to conclude trial against him by July 21 (today).

Mr Abbasi went to the high court, filing the appeal after the Supreme Court rejected his petition in this regard and directed him to file an appeal in the high court seeking review of the verdict.

Headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, a bench of the top court dismissed his petition on Tuesday.

Abbasi petitioned the apex court, requesting it to set aside the LHC ruling calling for swift conclusion of the ephedrine case.

On July 11, the LHC Rawalpindi Bench, deciding on a plea filed by Shahid Orakzai, had ordered that the trial be conducted daily from July 16 onwards and concluded on July 21.

The PML-N leader faces charges of misusing 500kg of controlled chemical ephedrine which he obtained for his pharmaceutical company in 2010.

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had registered a case against him and others in June 2012 under various sections of the CNS Act.