ISLAMABAD: A sessions’ court in Rawalpindi has rejected an application challenging a warrant seeking arrest of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son in the Ephedrine quota case, DawnNews reported.

Ali Musa Gilani’s lawyer Abdul Aziz had filed an application in court heard by Additional District and Sessions judge Mohammad Kaleem Khan on Monday.

The lawyer had sought cancellation of the warrant, arguing that it was issued by the Anti-Narcotics Force magistrate on June 21 whereas his client had already recorded his statement before the ANF team.

The judge rejected the application, ruling that the concerned court was entitled to issue the warrants.

The warrants for the arrest of Ali Musa Gilani and the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Prime ministerial candidate Makhdoom Shahabuddin were issued on June 21 for their suspected involvement in the Ephedrine import scam.

The ANF had moved an application before Special Judge (Narcotics) Shafqatullah Khan expressing the possibility of their involvement in the scam on the basis of statements of witnesses recorded by an investigation team over past two months and the judge issued the non-bailable arrest warrants.

The ANF contended that its investigators required their custody to investigate the sale of 9,000kgs of ephedrine to smugglers by two pharmaceutical companies — Berlex Lab International and Danas Pharmaceutical (Pvt) Ltd.

According to an ANF investigation officer, some witnesses, including former officials of the health ministry who worked under the supervision of then health secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari and Mr Shahabuddin, linked the former health minister and Musa Gilani to the controlled chemical scam.

ANF sources said the application for their arrest had been moved after they did not appear before the investigation team for recording their statement in the case.