Ali Musa granted bail until 30th as approver stands ground

The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench on Monday granted interim bail to Ali Musa Gillani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Ali Musa Gilani stands accused in the ephedrine quota case. He has been granted bail until July 30. A trial court in the same case, recorded a statement of ex Director General Health, Dr Rasheed Juma as approver. In his statement, Dr Juma accused Musa Gilani, former Health Minister Makhdoom Shahabudin and former Health Secretary Khushnood Lashari for pressurizing him to convert the export quota of ephedrine into a local consumption permit. He revealed that he was pressed by these three persons to issue the ephedrine quota to two pharmaceutical companies – Danas pharmaceutical and Berlex Limited. In the LHC, Dr. Khalid Ranjha, Musa Gilani’s counsel told the division bench, comprising Justice Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi, that his client was innocent and falsely implicated in the ephedrine scam.
Dr Ranjha said that Control of Narcotics Substance (CNS) court was not competent enough to hear the ephedrine case because ephedrine is a controlled chemical and not a narcotic. He requested the court to grant an interim bail to Musa Gillani, which the court accepted, and granted till July 30 against surety bonds of RS 100,000. The same bench also took up bail matters of the federal Textile Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and others accused in the ephedrine scam.
Shah Khawar, counsel of Makhdoom Shahab, told the court that the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) has initiated a campaign to fabricate evidence against his client, and so far they had convinced two accused – Dr Rashid Juma former DG health and Rizwan Khan Director of the pharmaceutical company Danas – to become approvers. Talking to media persons outside the court room, Ali Musa Gilani said that he had regularly met with the investigation team and was cooperating with them. Musa Gillani denied any links with his alleged front man, Tauqeer Ali Khan, who managed the allocation and conversion of ephedrine for pharmaceutical companies on behalf of Gilani. He said that the principal accused, Dr. Juma had become an approver. He said that although he was not accused but he would like to volunteer as witness, granted immunity.