Sanaullah questions independence of judiciary

Court extends accused’s seven-day judicial remand

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Punjab chapter president Rana Sanaullah questioned the independence of judiciary, asking if the judges recommended by the Lahore High Court chief justice were rejected by the government, how could they be considered impartial?

He expressed these views while talking to the media person after his proceedings in the drugs smuggling case registered against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

He also raised a question on the independence of the judiciary, saying the government rejected the judges nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and LHC Chief Justice. He said the government wanted judges to hand down verdicts in their favour.

The Anti-Narcotics Court judge extended a seven-day judicial remand of the accused. The Safe City Authority’s (SCA) help has been sought to identify the vehicle of accused from a 16-hour footage record.

As the proceeding commenced on an alleged smuggling case registered against Sanaullah by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), the chief operating officer Akbar Nasir from the SCA appeared before the court contending that they examined the CCTV footages and found videos in some cameras, adding they had video record of 16 hours but they did not know which vehicle to track.

He informed the court that the videos have been saved and will be hand over to the relevant department as the court order.

The accused’s lawyer advocate Syed Farhad Ali Shah said CCTV footages should be given to him from all the cameras. He said if the court directs them, they will go to the SCA headquarters to identify the vehicle. At this, the court ordered the accused counsels and investigation officer to visit the SCA headquarters to identify the vehicle.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2019.