Assets beyond means: LHC confirms pre-arrest bail of Sana

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Monday confirmed the interim pre-arrest bail of former law minister Rana Sanaullah in an inquiry into assets beyond means.

Earlier, NAB Special Prosecutor Faisal Raza Bokhari said the bureau had started the inquiry against Sana well before his arrest in a drug recovery case lodged by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). The prosecutor said a voter of Sana’s constituency had filed a complaint with the NAB, accusing him of accumulating assets beyond known sources of income. He said the chairman of the NAB issued warrants for Sana on Nov 9, 2020.

The prosecutor rejected an argument of the former minister’s counsel that the ANF accused him of amassing the assets with the business of drug. However, he failed to satisfy the bench’s query about the reason behind freezing the assets of the petitioner by the ANF in the drug case. The prosecutor said the investigations by the NAB and the ANF are different from each other. However, the bench observed that both investigations are about the same assets. The prosecutor admitted that the assets of Sana would stand confiscated if he is convicted in the drug case.

The bench asked the prosecutor as to what would be the fate of the NAB inquiry if the petitioner is convicted in the drug case. Sana’s counsel Amjad Pervez argued that the petitioner and his other family members are tax filers and their assets are already declared. The prosecutor said the petitioner undervalued his assets and properties in the declarations. “The FBR is the appropriate forum to deal with the charge of undervalued assets,” the bench observed.

The petitioner’s counsel said the inquiry by the NAB is in reaction to the bail granted to the former minister in the drug case. He said the petitioner received a call-up notice of the NAB the same day he was released on bail in the drug case.

After hearing the arguments, the bench confirmed the interim pre-arrest bail of Sana subject to surety bounds of Rs 5 million. A two-judge bench had granted the pre-arrest bail to Sana on March 5, 2020.

Talking to the media later, Sana accused the government of using the NAB and the FIA for political engineering and vindictive actions against the opposition leaders. He said then minister for narcotics Sheharyar Afridi had claimed to have video evidence of the drug recovery. He lamented that people have been waiting for that video for the last two years. The former law minister alleged that NAB officials claimed to have pressure from the high-ups.

Meanwhile, Rana Sanaullah said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would not contest elections together, but against each other. He said this while talking to the media after getting bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a case of assets beyond means, here on Monday.

He said the PML-N believed that there would be no reconciliation with the fake [PTI] government. He said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) movement would continue till the end of the government and Bilawal Bhutto was also committed to that cause.

He said he spent six months in solitary confinement. “When Imran Khan will be locked in a small room of a jail, and he’ll go to the court, he will get justice,” he said adding there was a price to pay for justice. When Imran Khan would be arrested, he would be given all facilities, except for one, Rana Sana said without elaborating further.

He said Maryam Nawaz had already exposed Imran Niazi’s claims of doing jihad. He didn’t go to Prime Minister’s House for jihad but for looting the nation, he added. Answering a question about disappearance of Maryam Nawaz from political scene, he said she would also come in public when need for it arises.

“In my case, the intelligence agencies have been gathering evidence for two years. When they did not find anything, they arrested me in a fake case of 15-kg heroin,” he said adding that former minister Sheharyar Afridi said heroin was recovered from Rana Sanaullah’s car and video evidence was available. “So far the claimed video is not provided to any media house as well as in the court as evidence,” he said.

He said after making a fake case of heroin against him, assets of his and his family were frozen. He said after the High Court granted him bail in the drugs case, NAB initiated another case against him and today he got bail in the fake case too. “Insha-Allah Shahbaz Sharif and Khwaja Asif will also get justice,” he said.

Criticising the government, he said the gang had destroyed the country by every mean. He said they were using the state institutions for political revenge and accusing the opposition of maligning the institutions. He said very soon Imran Niazi would be sent packing.