Rana Sanaullah gets bail in drugs case, Ahsan Iqbal on physical remand

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah in a 15-kg heroin recovery case, lodged by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

The PML-N leader got the relief after five months and 23 days in the ANF custody. In its short order, Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmad said, “The petition is allowed subject to furnishing [of] two surety bonds of Rs1 million each.”

The other day, the judge had reserved his verdict after lawyers representing the petitioner and the ANF concluded their arguments on the bail petition.

The ANF had arrested Rana Sana on July 1 on his way to Lahore from his native city Faisalabad near Ravi Toll Plaza on the Motorway. It claimed to have recovered 15-kg heroin from his vehicle besides a 9mm pistol with 23 live bullets.

A special team of the Force, which reportedly acted on a tip-off, had also arrested five others including driver and security guards of Sana. The co-suspects, who were already released on bail, were charged under sections of Pakistan Penal Code for attacking the personnel and obstructing them from performing their official duty.

Against the PML-N leader, the ANF registered an FIR under Section 9 (C) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, which carries death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail-term that may extend to 14 years along with a fine up to Rs1 million. As per the section, if the quantity of the narcotic exceeds 10kg, the punishment would not be less than life imprisonment.

As per the FIR contents, Rana Sana, when asked about the narcotics, admitted the possession of heroin, pointed toward a blue-colour suitcase concealed behind his seat.

It said Sana himself unzipped the suitcase, removed a plastic cover in it and pointed toward a bag filled with heroin.

During the process of recovery, it said, the security guards of the prime suspect attacked the ANF team and tried to get him release. However, the personnel overpowered the suspects and shifted them to Cantonment office of the ANF.

The next day of the arrest, a judicial magistrate sent Rana Sanaullah and other suspects to jail on judicial remand as the prosecution chose not to seek their physical remand.

The trial court had dismissed two bail petitions of Rana Sana.

The second bail petition was filed on the ground of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, retrieved from the cameras of Punjab Safe Cities Authority, showing movement of Rana Sana’s vehicle from the time of his arrest and arrival at the ANF office.

The defence counsel took plea that the arrest of Rana Sana at Ravi Toll Plaza allegedly took place at 3:25pm while the footage showed the vehicle over 14.5-km away at Canal Road at 3:35pm.

The legal team of the PML-N leader argued that the video record contradicted whole story of the prosecution as events narrated in the FIR were not possible humanly.

Before the LHC, the prosecution questioned maintainability of the bail petition and argued that the offence was non-bailable. A prosecutor said the defence admitted whole events of the FIR except for recovery of heroin. He argued that the onus to prove innocence lied on the defence. He also asked the court to issue a direction for conclusion of trial within a month instead.

The courtroom was packed with the PML-N lawyers and workers as the judge announced the decision at around 2:10pm. Wife of Rana Sanaullah was also present in the courtroom.

Talking to the media, Rana Sana’s wife said she was thankful to Allah Almighty on the release of her husband. However, she criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for, what she claimed, implicating her husband in a false case. “Who will be held accountable for six months my husband spent in jail,” she raised a question.

Meanwhile An accountability court on Tuesday summoned Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif in person on Jan 7, 2020 in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing scam case. As the hearing commenced, the judge asked about Shahbaz Sharif. The court was informed the accused was abroad.

The judge remarked that Shahbaz Sharif was continuously absent from hearing of the case, which was affecting the proceedings, and ordered the accused with a warning to appear before the court on the next date of hearing.

On February 18, 2019, the accountability court had indicted Shahbaz Sharif in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing case. Accountability Court Judge Syed Najamul Hassan had also framed charges against nine other accused in the case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against Shahbaz Sharif, former principal secretary to prime minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, Nadeem Zia, Kamran Kiyani brother of the former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, Munir Zia, Khalid Hussain, Ali Sajid, Shahid Chaudhry, Ahad Khan Cheema, Bilal Kidwai, Shahid Shafique, Shahd Shafique, Imtiaz Haider, Israr Saeed and Arif Butt.

The court had framed charges against these accused except for Nadeem Zia and Kamran Kiyani, as both were declared proclaimed offenders.

In a reply submitted to the Lahore High Court, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday opposed the return of passport to PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz.

It said an appeal by Maryam against sentence in a reference was fixed before the Islamabad High Court for next month for which personal appearance of the appellant was necessary. Brothers of Maryam and other family members are already in London to look after her father former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Therefore, it said the passport should not be returned to the petitioner which she had surrendered before the court against the bail granted to her in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun adjourned the hearing on the application of Maryam till December 26 to hear it along with the main petition seeking removal of her name from the ECL and for a one-time permission to travel abroad.

Our Islamabad correspondent adds: An accountability court on Tuesday granted 13-day physical remand of PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal in the Narowal sports complex corruption reference and handed him over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A NAB team produced Ahsan before the court of AC Judge Muhammad Bashir, a day after the arrest of PML-N leader for his alleged involvement in corruption. During hearing, the NAB prosecutor requested the court to grant 14-day physical remand of Ahsan Iqbal by disclosing that the remand was necessary for completion of investigations initiated against the former planning and development minister.

Ahsan’s counsel Tariq Jahangiri opposed the remand plea and disclosed that his client had never given any approval for the project as it was initiated in the PPP tenure. He said the NAB sent a notice to Ahsan Iqbal against which he appeared where he was arrested.

Ahsan briefed the court that he was being elected as MNA from his constituency since 1993 whereas his assets had decreased since then. He said the NAB has been conducting an inquiry in the matter for the last 20 months and asked whether they have collected any evidence against him?

The NAB prosecutor said excessive usage of authority is itself corruption.

After hearing the arguments, the court granted the physical remand of Ahsan.

Strict security arrangements were made during Ahsan’s production before the court. The roads leading to the accountability courts complex were blocked with barricades and traffic was diverted to other routes.

"I accept the punishment if I am being punished just for speaking out in favour of death sentence handed over to General Musharraf," said Ahsan Iqbal during his appearance before the court.

The NAB alleged that Ahsan had illegally initiated a project of Rs 3 billion in Narowal; causing a loss worth billions to the national exchequer. It said that Narowal Sports City was constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 6 billion, which was a violation of rules.