LAHORE: The jail authorities on Saturday presented former law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan before a special court for Control of Narcotics Substance (CNS) with no presiding judge available to hold the proceedings.

The officials took the PML-N leader back to jail after the court’s reader simply marked his attendance, fixed Sept 14 as next date of hearing and also extended his judicial remand in the drug case.

The Lahore High Court on Sept 6 repatriated District & Sessions Judge Masood Arshad, the presiding judge of the CNS court pursuant to a notification of the federal law ministry issued on Aug 26 last. The high court is yet to nominate the new presiding judge.

During the last hearing held on Aug 28, the judge had returned to the court after one-hour break only to inform the prosecution and the defence that he had been barred from hearing the case through a message he received on Whatsapp.

Reader extends remand

On his way back to jail, Rana Sana briefly talked to the media and said the government had nothing to do except putting its rivals behind the bars. He said a government based on cruelty and injustice could not survive long.

Referring to the transfer of the judge hearing his case, the PML-N leader regretted that the government had been trying to “control” the courts with Whatsapp. He claimed that ‘non-cooperative’ judges were being spied on by the government.

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had arrested Rana Sanaullah from motorway and claimed to have recovered 15-kg heroin from his vehicle.

It registered an FIR under section 9 (C) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, which carried death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail-term that may extend to 14 years along with a fine up to Rs1 million.

Other provisions of the Act and the PPC were also added to the FIR to charge the suspects for attacking the ANF personnel and obstructing them from performing their duty.

The FIR said when asked about the narcotics, the former minister admitted the possession of heroin, pointed towards a blue-coloured suitcase concealed behind his seat. It said the suspect himself unzipped the suitcase, removed a plastic cover in it and pointed toward a plastic bag filled with the drug.

It said the security guards of the former law minister attacked the ANF team and tried to free him. However, the personnel overpowered the suspects and shifted them to the Cantonment office of the ANF.

The other suspects include Usman Ahmad, Sibtain Haider, Muhammad Akram, Umar Farooq and Amir Rustam.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2019