Sanaullah granted bail in NAB inquiry

LHC orders PML-N leader to submit two surety bonds of Rs0.5m each

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted ad-interim bail to PML-N Punjab President MNA Rana Sanaullah in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry against him over charges of possessing assets beyond known sources of income.

Granting bail to the former Punjab law minister till March 25, a divisional bench ordered him to submit two surety bonds of Rs0.5 million each.

According to the accountability watchdog, Sanaullah acquired his assets through corrupt practices while the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has also accused the PML-N leader and his family of accumulating ill-gotten gains through narcotics trade.



“How are two departments investigating the same matter?” Sanaullah inquired in his petition.

The PML-N leader’s counsel told the court that the ANF had submitted a challan and the proceedings were pending before a special court for narcotics control.

“Interestingly, another inquiry has recently been initiated by NAB on the same assets under the allegation of having been acquired through corruption or corrupt practices which is tantamount to the mockery of law,” the petition read.

The counsel further implored that a vilification campaign was launched against his client to propagate the accusations.



“The formal orders of freezing all the assets of the petitioner, his family members and other relatives were passed by the investigating officer during the investigation and thereafter the orders have been submitted before the learned trial court for confirmation, which are since pending,” according to the petition.

“The petitioner had hardly reached his home after he was granted bail on December 24, 2019 by [the] LHC when he was served with a call-up notice on December 27, 2019 by NAB whereby he was required to appear in person before the Combined Investigation Team (CIT) on January 2, 2020, in connection with an inquiry against the petitioner and others on the allegations of accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income.”

The counsel said the NAB chairman had violated his jurisdictional power by approving the inquiry.