ISLAMABAD: Sons of a former drug controller of the Ministry of National Health Services have filed a petition in Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) for not allowing them to do business because of the alleged involvement of their father in the ephedrine case.

Rehan Ahmed and Hassan Ahmed are sons of Sheikh Ansar Ahmed, who is an accused in the misuse of 9,000kg ephedrine case. Former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Musa Gilani and ex-health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin are the main accused in the case.

The petitioners said one of them held a degree in masters in business administration (MBA) and the other was a chartered accountant.

In March 2013, they decided to do some business.

They opened an account with AKD Securities and started investing their savings in the business of shares on a limited scale. In 2015, Hassan proceeded to the UK and started a job there and kept sending money for investing in the share business.

According to the petition, the current value of their shares was Rs400,698 and the amount in the join account was about Rs35,000.

The petition said the ANF through a letter dated Oct 1, 2019, blocked the petitioners’ account without even issuing them a prior notice.

As a result, the shares have been blocked and the petitioners have been deprived of their legitimate and lawful business, it added.

The petition said the ANF under the Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Act 1997 can carry out an investigation or hold an inquiry regarding assets but these powers were limited/restricted and can only be exercised where strong and reasonable suspicions existed that the assets were acquired through illicit involvement in narcotics.

Perhaps the ANF officials have not gone through the preamble of the Anti Narcotics Force Act 1997 which empowered them to inquire and investigate offences relating to narcotics, trafficking and connected matters, the petition said, adding in the instant case the ANF exceeded its jurisdiction and acted against the CNS Act as well.

The petition requested the court to set aside ANF’s directions for blocking the shares as well as the account of the petitioners.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019