LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif hascriticised the sentencing of party leader Hanif Abbasi in ephedrine quotacase, saying that it “clearly shows a discriminatory attitude towards [the]PML-N.”

A special anti-narcotics court sentenced Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi to life in ephedrine quota case late Saturday,just four days before the general election in the country.

A former MNA from Rawalpindi, Abbasi was expected to have a tough electoralcontest on July 25 with Sheikh Rasheed — who is allied with the PML-N’sarch-rival, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf — in National Assembly constituencyNA-60 Rawalpindi.

Reacting to the court verdict, Shehbaz said, “The timing and manner ofjudgement of Hanif Abbasi clearly shows a discriminatory attitude towardsPML-N, targeting our party on the eve of the polls, when PML-N is on theverge of winning the polls.”

The PML-N president drew parallels between the Avenfield properties caseverdict against Nawaz Sharif and Saturday’s judgement in ephedrine quotacase, saying that it came in the midst of the election campaign, whereasall cases against other politicians had been deferred till after elections.

Condemning the “politically motivated” decision, he said that “only anexception has been made in case of PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi.”