THE Anti-Narcotics Force must be commended for standing its ground as it performs its duty to curb the use, sale and trafficking of narcotics, and confronting drug abuse. In a high-profile case allegedly involving a son of the prime minister, the ANF has now moved the Supreme Court as it sustains pressure from the highest quarters to quash the case. The force has already lost its chief, a director and a deputy director; also, a secretary at the Ministry of Narcotics Control, who likewise refused to succumb to alleged pressure from the PM’s Secretariat, has been removed from his post. The government has now set the law division in motion to keep the ANF from pursuing the matter in the apex court. The case in question involved the release of ephedrine, a controlled substance, above its permissible quota, to two pharmaceutical companies which made addictive drugs from ephedrine. When the drug flooded the market, the ANF set about investigating the matter.

The blatant way in which executive power has been abused in this case is shameful indeed. It is no secret that those in government with whatever leverage to wield power try to shield their own after a wrongdoing is suspected. Examples abound where interests of national institutions like Pakistan Railway, Pakistan Steel, PIA, even the Haj directorate, have been compromised for sheer greed of the people involved. Powerful government functionaries have fallen into disrepute over such scams but that has not deterred new fortune hunters from indulging in malpractice. The ANF is a worthy national institution with a good track record. If it has nothing to hide, the government would do well to redress the grief it has caused the force by arbitrarily sacking its high-ups, and let the law take its course; which it eventually should despite efforts to muzzle the whistleblower.