The court has directed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to present himself before the court on June 25 so that charges can be framed against him in the drugs case. The court didn’t frame charges in the last hearing on the request of Sanaullah’s lawyer as Interior Minister was unable to present himself before the court as he was unable to travel to Lahore from Islamabad.
The written order of the special court related to the last hearing was issued today, which read that Sanaullah’s lawyer “is stating that the charge may be framed on the next date of hearing because the accused is the federal interior minister and he has to run to Islamabad immediately”. “In these circumstances the in-hand case is adjourned to June 25,” the order added.
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Moreover, the court also directed the Anti-Narcotics Force to submit their reply regarding the Minister’s request to unfreeze his assets. On May 17, the interior minister filed an application seeking to unfreeze his bank accounts and property. He maintained that the drugs case against him is merely a case of political victimization during the rule of PTI. He informed the court that freezing of assets has cause financial disruptions in his life.
The drugs case was registered against Rana Sanaullah after he was arrested on July 1, 2019 by the Anti-Narcotics Force while travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore. He was arrested near the Ravi Toll Plaza on Motorway and ANF claimed to have seized 15 kg of narcotics from his vehicle. Along with Rana Sanaullah his driver and security guards were also arrested at the scene by ANF.
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Subsequently a case was registered against Rana Sanaulla by ANF deputy director operations under sections 186,189 and 353 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and sections 15, 17 and 9C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act (CNSA) 1997.
The ANF claimed to have operated on the basis of information received that Rana Sanaullah was involved in drug smuggling and was trafficking heroin to Lahore.
Although he was denied bail by the trial court, Lahore High Court released him on bail on December 24, 2019.