Sanaullah’s bail: LHC says political victimisation in country an open secret

Court issues a nine-page detailed bail granting judgment in Rana Sanauallah’s narcotics case

ISLAMABAD: In its detail judgment in Rana SanaullahÔÇÖs bail plea, Lahore High Court (LHC) noted that political victimisation in the country was an open secret and the same aspect cannot be ignored in the case.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was granted bail on December 24 in a drugs case filed by the Anti-Narcotics Force for allegedly possessing a huge amount of drugs in his vehicle.

LHC in its nine-page bail granting judgment said, ÔÇ£Learned counsel of [petitioner] also argued that case was registered for the reasons that petitioner was a vocal member of [the] opposition party and was criticising the policies of the incumbent government and on that account, he was put behind the bars."

ÔÇ£However, in the context of [the] petitioner being a vocal political leader of [the] opposition party, this aspect of the case could not be ignored as political victimisation in our country is an open secret."

In July this year, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had detained the PML-N Punjab president for allegedly possessing a huge amount of drugs in his vehicle, a claim which Sanaullah had denied.



Sanaullah, who has served as the Punjab law minister during the previous PML-N government, was arrested from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway near Sukheki, while he was travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore.

The LHC also held that [the] prosecution case was 'doubtfulÔÇÖ in the case.

ÔÇ£Law is also well settled that seriousness of allegation is not a ground for refusal of bail if on merits it is found that prosecutionÔÇÖs case is doubtful as [a] benefit of [the] doubt always goes to the accused even at [the] bail stage. Incarceration of accused before conviction in cases of doubtful nature is never approved by the courts,ÔÇØ said the LHC bail verdict.

ÔÇ£Learned counsel for petitioner also argued that case was registered for the reasons that petitioner was a vocal member of opposition party and was criticising the policies of incumbent government and on that account he was put behind the bars. Though such argument at bail stage is not attached much weight for the reason that deeper appreciation at the stage of bail is not permissible nor desirable... law is also well settled that seriousness of allegation is not a ground for refusal of bail if on merits it is found that prosecution's case is doubtful as benefit of doubt always goes to the accused even at bail stage. Incarceration of accused before conviction in cases of doubtful nature is never approved by the courts,ÔÇØ the judgement read.



It further stated that ÔÇ£lapses in the prosecution case noted above are visible on surface of record like non-preparation of recovery memos at the place of recovery, non-investigation regarding involvement of petitioner in running a network of smuggling of narcotics and sending only 20 grams of contraband out of total quantity of 15 kilograms 'Heroin' allegedly recovered from possession of petitioner do indicate prima facie that guilt of the petitioner needs further probe and his case calls for further inquiry. Co-accused of the petitioner were granted post-arrest bail by the trial court in this case which order has not been challenged by the prosecutionÔÇØ.

His arrest was widely condemned by PML-N and other opposition parties. Time and again, Sanaullah has also criticised the government for his arrest and described it as ÔÇ£an act of crueltyÔÇØ.

Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday also announced to move the Supreme Court against the LHCÔÇÖs decision to grant Sanaullah bail.