Hanif Abbasi

Muhammad Hanif Abbasi (Urdu: محمد حنيف عباسى‎; born 4 January 1966) is a businessman and politician of Pakistan Muslim League (N). He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan twice from 2002 to 2008 and again from 2008 to 2013. He was arrested in April 2018 in ephedrine quota case (smuggling) by anti-narcotics force and sentenced to prison for life by the court.

Hanif Abbasi
Born (1966-01-04) 4 January 1966
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
2008–2013
ConstituencyNA-56 (Rawalpindi-VI)
Personal details
NationalityPakistani
Political partyPakistan Muslim League (N) (2008 – present)
Other political
affiliations		Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (until 2008)
Websitewww.mohammadhanifabbasi.com

Early life and education

He was born on 4 January 1966 in Rawalpindi.[1][2] He graduated from the Forman Christian College and University of the Punjab.[3]

Political career

Abbasi started his political career as a member of Jamaat-e-Islami but later joined Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) in 2008.[2]

He was first elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from NA-56 (Rawalpindi VII) as a candidate of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and defeated Sheikh Rashid Ahmad nephew, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq in the 2002 by-elections.[2]

In 2008 Pakistani general election, Abbasi joined the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) and was again elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from NA-56 (Rawalpindi VII) on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) and defeated former Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad by bagging 73,433 votes.[2]

In 2013 Pakistani general election, he again contested election from NA-56 (Rawalpindi VII) as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) and was defeated after taking 67,169 votes against Imran Khan who obtained 80,425 votes.[4]

In 2018 Pakistani general election, he was the nominated candidate from NA-60 (Rawalpindi-IV) on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), however, he was disqualified and sentenced for a lifetime in the narcotics case.[5]

Disqualification

An F.I.R. was registered against Abbasi in June 2012 for misuse of 500 k.g. of the controlled drug ephedrine obtained for his pharmaceutical company, Gray Pharmaceutical, in 2010.[6] On November 2012, Abbasi was granted bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench, however, just before election 2013, antinarcotic force submitted a challan to relook into the case before Abbasi can contest elections. However, Abbasi was allowed to contest election 2013, since his case was pending in the court.[7] On July, 2018, Justice Sardar Muhammad Akram, announced the judgment, in which he was found guilty in narcotics, imposing Rs. 1 million and lifetime imprisonment.[8] He was arrested from the courts room and was shifted to Central Jail Rawalpindi. On September 22, 2018, a scandal surfaced when Abbasi's picture was released from jail in a casual dress instead of Jail's apparel with his party leadership in Central Jail Adiala superintendent, after which he was shifted to Attock Jail from Central Jail Rawalpindi.[9][10] Abbasi experienced bad health during his imprisonment, reportedly he had kidney problems [11] He was shifted to Punjab Institute of Cardiology in January 2019 for cardiac procedures [12] and in March, 2019 to Shaikh Zayed Hospital for his kidney and cardiac problems.[13]

On April 11, 2019, a bench comprising Justice Aalia Neelum of the Lahore High Court suspended the sentence, the court maintained that all other accused in the case were acquitted and all legal points were not considered during the case.[14]

References
  1. "Profile: PML-N's Rawalpindi aide Hanif Abbasi". www.pakistantoday.com.pk.
  2. Dawn.com (25 April 2013). "Hanif Abbasi".
  3. "Muhammad Hanif Abbasi". Pakistani Leaders Online. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  4. Yasin, Aamir (26 March 2013). "PML-N finalises NA candidates". Dawn. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  5. "Another PML-N candidate bites the dust". Dawn. 22 July 2018.
  6. "ephedrine case registered against PML-N's Hanif Abbasi". The Dawn. 31 July 2012.
  7. "Hanif Abbasi's ephedrine case: Now brother is in trouble". The Dawn. 12 July 2013.
  8. "Court hands life sentence to PML-N's Hanif Abbasi in ephedrine quota case". The Dawn. 21 July 2018.
  9. "Photo leak issue: Hanif Abbasi shifted from Adiala to Attock jail". The News. 23 September 2018.
  10. "Hanif Abbasi shifted from Adiala jail to Attock prison after photo leak controversy". The Dawn. 22 September 2018.
  11. "Hanif Abbasi needs surgery to prevent kidney failure". The Express Tribune. 19 November 2018.
  12. "Hanif Abbasi undergoes cardiac procedure". The Dawn. 30 January 2019.
  13. "Punjab govt told to shift Hanif Abbasi to SZH". The Dawn. 29 March 2019.
  14. "Relief for Hanif Abbasi as LHC accepts PML-N leader's bail". The Dawn. 11 April 2019.
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