PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah granted bail in drug trafficking case

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted bail to senior Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leader Rana Sanaullah in a drug trafficking case against two surety bonds of Rs1 million each.

A day earlier, the LHC had reserved its verdict on Sanaullah's  bail petition, which was announced today.

On November 20, the PML-N leader had approached the high court for a second time, seeking his release on bail in the drug case made against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

The petition was filed after a special court for Control of Narcotics Substance had dismissed his bail petition on November 10.

The bail petition stated that the case was politically motivated and based on mala fide intention. It further said that the recovery of narcotics attributed to the petitioner was "just eyewash".

It said that the prosecution failed to present any independent witness of the alleged recovery from the petitioner. It further said the video evidence presented before the trial court was contradictory to the story narrated in the FIR.

The petition mentioned that the three-hour delay in registration of the FIR made the entire case "a concocted story".

He said the trial court overlooked all the contradictions in the case and rejected his bail petition for the second time "without applying judicial mind".

The ANF had arrested Rana Sanullah on July 1 when he was traveling to Lahore from Faisalabad. The law enforcement agency had said that  it recovered 15 kilogramme of heroine from his car.

‘Fake case’

Reacting to the development, PML-N leader Talal Chaudhry said this is a fake government that made fake cases against the opposition members.

“The relief being afforded to our leaders these days is because the cases are fake,” he said.

“The government is using state institutions for political ends and there are question marks over the ANF now.”

'Arrest came after sufficient evidence'

The then minister for narcotics control, Shehryar Afridi, had claimed that the ANF arrested the former provincial minister after ‘collecting sufficient evidence’ against him.

Addressing a press conference along with Director General ANF Major General Arif on July 04, he said Sanaullah was taken into custody after receiving a lead from a person arrested from Faisalabad Airport.

He said that movements of Rana Sanaullah were observed for many days, and he (Rana Sanaullah ) was not stopped on three occasions by the ANF as female members of his family were travelling with him.

He said the value of the drugs recovered from the PML-N leader was about Rs. 150 million to Rs.160 million in the international market.