ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the bail of former deputy drug controller (DDC) Abdul Sattar Sohrani, one of the accused in the ephedrine quota case, DawnNews reported.

The court also dismissed the ANF's petition seeking the cancellation of the bail granted to Sohrani by the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench earlier.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, led by Justice Nasirul Mulk, was hearing the case.

During the hearing, the Anti-Narcotics Force's special prosecutor general Shahid Abbasi told the court that 17 people were accused in the ephedrine case.

Abbasi further said that five of the accused were on bail, four were in jail and three accused had obtained pre-arrest bail.

Moreover, during the hearing, Khalid Ranjha, the counsel for Ali Musa Gilani, son of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, told the court that the ANF had cordoned off the Supreme Court's main entrance and had obstructed the petitioner from seeking justice.

Ranjha moreover said that ephedrine was not a controlled substance under Pakistani law.

Also, during the proceedings, Sardar Ishaq, the counsel for federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, argued that his client was the first one to order the investigation in the case.

He further said that three inquiries were conducted on his client's order and no evidence was found against him.

Upon which, Justice Nasirul Mulk inquired of the counsel as to what was the need for the repeated inquirites.

Responding to which, Ishaq said that his client wanted to reach a conclusion through the inquiries.

He told the court that the ephedrine quota case was registered a year after a call to attention notice on the issue in the National Assembly.

Ishaq said the ANF had presented three challans in a period of nine months and Shahabuddin's name was not included in any of those.

Moreover, he said that ANF officials knew that there was no evidence against his client.

He added the ANF had been trying to make deals in order to make former director general of health, Dr Rashid Juma, the prime witness in the case.

Ishaq said Dr Juma was not arrested after his bail application was rejected.

The court adjourned the hearing on the bail applications of Ali Musa and Shahabuddin until tomorrow.