Sanaullah’s plea for access to arrest footage dismissed

Anti-narcotics court also rejects MNA’s plea for release of his vehicle

LAHORE: An anti-narcotics court on Saturday dismissed two petitions filed by PML-N Punjab President MNA Rana Sanaullah – one seeking access to the footage of his arrest by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in July last year and the second for the return of his confiscated vehicle in which heroin was allegedly found.

The court also rejected the prosecution’s petition for day-to-day proceedings of the drugs possession case against the PML-N leader.

Judge Shakir Hassan fixed the date of March 7 to frame charges against Sanaullah and four others in the case.

The PML-N leader has been demanding access to the footage, which according to Minister of State of Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi and the ANF director general showed him handing over heroin to the authorities at the time of his arrest.

On January 18, the court had reserved its decision over the MNA’s plea seeking the release of his vehicle on Supardari.

Sanaullah, who served as the Punjab law minister during the previous PML-N government and known for his tough talk, was arrested by the ANF on July 1, 2019 from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway near Sukheki. Four others including his driver and security guard were also nabbed.

Afridi, at a news conference with ANF DG Major General Arif Malik, had maintained that 15 kilogrammes of heroin were recovered from Sanaullah’s possession and there was footage which would be submitted to the court as evidence.

The PML-N leader remained in detention of the ANF for over six months as the anti-narcotics special court twice rejected his bail petition.

In August, District and Sessions Judge Masood Arshad was forced to stop the hearing of case in the middle of the proceedings much to the surprise of everyone present in the court.

The judge said he received a WhatsAap message that he had been transferred to the Lahore High Court even though the court had not issued any notification of the judge’s repatriation at that time.

In December last year, the Lahore High Court granted him bail on two surety bonds worth Rs1 million each.

Sanaullah has consistently denied the charge and denounced the case against him as being “fabricated” and “politically motivated”.

In his petition, alleged that he was implicated in a fake case. He submitted that the FIR of the incident was registered under 9-C, 15 and 17 of the Control of Narcotics Substances Act with a delay, which made it dubious.