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Pakistan's Supreme Court has turned down a request from authorities to close a case against irregularities in the import of a chemical that allegedly involved Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's younger son Ali Musa Gilani.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry rejected the request from the Anti-Narcotics Force on Thursday while hearing a petition filed by a regional director of the ANF.
Ali Musa Gilani was recently elected a member of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament in a bypoll in Multan. Earlier, the prime minister's elder son, Abdul Qadir Gilani, was linked to alleged corruption in the arrangement of the Haj pilgrimage in 2010.
The apex court ordered the ANF to submit an investigation report on out-of-turn quotas for importing raw materials that were granted to two pharmaceutical companies by the health ministry, allegedly under the influence of Ali Musa Gilani.
The regional director from the ANF informed the court that a quota of 9,000 kg had been granted to Berlex Labs International and Denis Pharmaceutical though the official limit for the concerned chemical is 500 kg. The chemical, commonly known as the "poor man's cocaine," is used to make a medicine called 'Ephedrine' to cure common cold, flu and asthma.
Raja Shahid Mehmood Abbasi, the lawyer for the ANF, told the court that the regional director intended to withdraw the petition.
"Who gave you the authority to withdraw the case and under what reasons you have decided to withdraw it? Something is wrong," the Chief Justice remarked. "Are you scared when you should be setting an example," he further said.
The regional director said he was not scared and that the name of one Tauqir Ahmed Khan had surfaced during investigations. Khan had claimed he was the personal secretary of Ali Musa Gilani and that he got the quota approved by the health ministry against rules and regulations.
The regional director read out a report of an inquiry committee that determined the two pharmaceutical companies had misused the quota and allegedly sold the chemical to smugglers instead of using it to make the medicine.
The apex court directed the ANF to submit a detailed record of its investigation into the matter and said the probe and trial of the accused should continue. It subsequently adjourned the case till April 20.
The issue was earlier raised in the National Assembly in 2009 and former Health Minister Makdoom Shahabuddin had set up a fact-finding committee. On the recommendation of this committee, the ANF had initiated an investigation against 10 people. The ANF had issued a notice to Ali Musa Gilani on March 12 last year to appear before investigators but he had failed to do so, officials said.