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LAHORE, Oct 16: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry on Wednesday observed that he could recommend exclusion of poppy straw from the list of narcotics.
The CJ made this observation while hearing a petition against inclusion of the commodity in the list of narcotics, which had allegedly resulted in police harassing the dealers.
Petitioner M. D. Tahir submitted that poppy straw, commonly known as ‘Choora Post’, was used to prepare medicines and was no narcotic. It was available for only Rs20 per kilogram whereas its refined version, heroin, cost Rs100,000 per kilogram. A hundred thousand kilograms of poppy straw would not yield even a kilogram of heroin.
The CJ directed the government to present its point of view and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
Deputy Attorney General Akhtar Hussain and Additional Advocate General M. Bilal represented the state.
SENTENCE COMMUTED: Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif commuted a death sentence to life imprisonment.
The appellant, Riaz Ahmed, had contended through his counsel that he had fired only one shot at the deceased, Pervez Akhtar, who had abused and thus provoked him.
ELECTION CHALLENGED: The LHC issued notice to the deputy attorney general on PPP leader Khalid Kharal’s petition against the election of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-QA) leader Riaz Fatiana as a member of the National Assembly from Toba Tek Singh.
The petitioner submitted that Mr Fatiana had been convicted in two cases and disqualified from holding a public office for life under the Peoples Representation Act.
BOYCOTT: Lawyers throughout Punjab boycotted court proceedings after 11am on the call of Punjab Bar Council to protest against the murder of Pattoki Bar Association president Abdul Jabbar.
