LHC dismisses Sana’s plea challenging arrest warrant

Petition dismissed after minister's counsel withdrew application

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday dismissed a plea filed by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah challenging bailable arrest warrants issued by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) for allegedly threatening the judiciary and government.

The petition, wherein the interior minister had claimed that the ATC order was passed to politically malign him, was dismissed after the petitioner's counsel withdrew the application. 

However, it is pertinent to note that in his plea, Sana had maintained that “the [ATC] judge is a close relative of his political opponents and thus, this impugned order was passed merely to damage his political position.”

Read Sana moves LHC against arrest warrant

As the proceedings commenced, the minister’s lawyer Syed Farhad Ali Shah informed the bench that a politically motivated case was constituted against his client despite Sana not having anything to do with the matter.

The counsel continued that the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case had submitted a cancellation report before the ATC but the judge did not agree with it and had resultantly issued a bailable arrest warrant for Sana.

Advocate Shah contended that there was no material available in the investigation which could establish the minister’s guilt.

Justice Najafi of the LHC questioned if the counsel expected the government to proceed "against its own interior minister". The lawyer maintained that the relevant court did not examine the record.

Justice Shahbaz Rizvi remarked that "investigating and collecting material was the responsibility of the IO" and asked if it was appropriate that the petitioner went to submit his acquittal application if there was no material against him.

Subsequently, the bench dismissed the plea after the petitioner’s counsel withdrew it.