By Ali Imran
RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench Friday suspended a non-bailable warrant to arrest Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, which were issued by a special magistrate for failing to appear in an inquiry regarding a corruption case filed against him.
Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan of the high court’s Rawalpindi bench heard the case and has stopped the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab from taking any actions on the arrest warrant including the minister’s arrest and raids in the case.
Meanwhile, the ACE has been issued a notice by the Rawalpindi bench in which it has sought records related to the case.
The development came following a petition filed by the interior minister’s counsel advocate Razzaq A. Mirza on his behalf, which stated that the ACE has obtained the warrant through misrepresentation. The court has summoned ACE along with the case records on October 17.
Earlier, Advisor to the Chief Minister Punjab on Interior Omar Sarfraz Cheema said that Rana Sanaullah will be arrested if he enters Punjab. His statement came after the ACE obtained a non-bailable warrant to arrest Rana Sanaullah. The arrest warrant was effective till October 19.
Cheema also directed the Inspector General of Punjab police to provide assistance to ACE Punjab for Sanaullah’s arrest. He directed that the arrest be carried out according to the law.
On October 8, a special judicial magistrate of Rawalpindi Ghulam Akbar issued the arrest warrant for Sanaullah at the request of ACE Punjab in an inquiry pertaining to an estate in a housing society that was purchased at a nominal price.
Earlier, Adviser to Punjab CM for Anti-Corruption Brigadier (retd) Musaddiq Abbasi told the media that Rana Sanaullah has been found guilty in the corruption case against him.
Sanaullah accepted two plots as a “bribe” from an “illegal housing society” — Bismillah Housing Scheme — in the Chakwal district, he said.
Abbasi said the ACE launched the land acquisition inquiry in 2017 against the minister. As per inquiry, the housing society’s owner presented two plots measuring 10 kanals as a bribe, he said.
Abbasi added the plots were transferred to Sanaullah at a much lower price than the scheduled rate. The plots are still in the possession of the minister and his wife, he claimed.
He noted the probe also found that the records for plots 18A and 139A were missing.
On October 8, the PTI said on its official Twitter account that a non-bailable arrest warrant had been issued for Rana Sanaullah and a police party had left to arrest him.
