RAWALPINDI - The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench on Wednesday rejected the petition of PML-N ex-MNA and candidate from NA-60 Muhammad Hanif Abbasi against holding Ephedrine case hearing on daily basis.

The bench upheld the previous verdict which also directed Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Court to conclude the train against Hanif Abbasi by July 21.

LHC Rawalpindi Bench Justice Ibad-ur-Rehman Lodhi took up the petition filed by Hanif Abbasi through his lawyer Tanvir Iqbal. In the petition, Hanif Abbasi pleaded that the Ephedrine case set to be heard on August 2 but the CNS court started hearing it on daily basis on order of apex court.

Abbasi said in the petition that he did not want speedy hearing in the case as he is busy in electioneering. The ex-MP requested the court to stop the CNS Court from hearing the case on daily basis besides changing the date July 21 fixed for announcing the verdict. After completion of arguments, LHC Rawalpindi Bench Justice Ibad ur Rehman Lodhi dismissed the petition and upheld its previous verdict of holding hearing in the Ephedrine case on daily basis.

Meanwhile, Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Court Sardar Muhammad Akram postponed hearing in the Ephedrine case till July 19 after hearing the arguments of the defence lawyer. Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, the main accused who is on bail, was also present in the court.

Separately, courts have also extended the interim bails of leaders and workers of PML-N including Senator Chaudhry Tanvir Ali Khan and Muhammad Hanif Abbasi till July 28 in cases of creating hurdles in the arrest of Capt (Retd) Muhammad Safdar by NAB team upon his arrival in Rawalpindi. The other accused, whose pre-arrest bails were extended, included ex-MPs Zia Ullah Shah, Malik Shakil Awan, Malik Abrar, Sheikh Arslan, Yasir Butt, Zaib-un-Nisa Awan, Raja Hanif Advocate, Maqbool Ahmed Khan and others.