NAB seeks early decision on Sana’s bail

LHC bench asks Registrar Office to fix hearing next week

LAHORE:

A division bench of Lahore High Court has directed the Registrar Office to fix hearing regarding Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab president Rana Sanaullah’s pre-arrest bail on November 16.

The PML-N leader is facing an inquiry over alleged possession of assets beyond his declared means of income.

The bench headed by Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem gave the direction while admitting a civil miscellaneous application by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for early conclusion of the bail proceedings.

The bureau submitted that the LHC had adjourned the case on March 5 till March 25, but a hearing had not been held since then.

It alleged that the petitioner was misusing the concession of ad interim pre-arrest bail and trying to hamper the collection of evidence. It prayed the court to grant an early hearing of the writ petition to meet the ends of justice.

A division bench granted interim bail to Sana on March 5. In his petition, he had raised the question how the matter of acquiring assets could be investigated by two departments. The bench, after hearing arguments, granted him bail till March 25 for two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each.

The petitioner reached home after his release on bail on December 24, 2019 by the LHC. He was served with a notice on December 27 by NAB, whereby he was required to appear in person before its combined investigation team (CIT) on January 2 in connection with an inquiry against him and others in assets beyond means case.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2020.