LHC suspends arrest warrant of Rana Sanaullah Khan


RAWALPINDI, Oct 14 (SABAH): The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on Friday suspended Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan’s arrest warrant issued in an alleged land scam case.

Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan of the Rawalpindi Bench of the LHC heard the petition seeking the withdrawal of the non-bailable arrest warrant against the interior minister.

Rawalpindi’s Senior Civil Judge (Criminal Division) Ghulam Akbar had issued the arrest warrant for Rana Sanaullah over his alleged failure to join the investigation in the case.

The petition noted that under Section 76 of the CrPC, the court can authorise the investigating officer to receive bail bonds.

Further, the petition had accused the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of “misrepresenting” facts in obtaining the arrest warrant.

“Rana Sanaullah is in Islamabad, not hiding anywhere, so the warrant of arrest should be withdrawn and the investigating officer should be ordered to receive bail bonds,” the plea stated.

During the proceedings on Friday, LHC barred ACE from arresting the minister and from conducting raids based on the warrant while issuing a notice to the anti-corruption unit’s investigation team demanding case records.

Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan 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.

ACE has now been ordered to appear before the court on October 17 (Monday).

It may be noted that ACE had alleged that the interior minister purchased two plots in Bismillah Housing Scheme located in Kallar Kahar area at a price lower than the scheduled rate. It further claimed that both plots were given to Sanaullah as a ‘bribe’.

“Record reflects that [the] contention of the IO [investigation officer] is genuine, hence, the same is accepted in the interest of justice and a non-bailable warrant of arrest of the accused namely Rana Sana Ullah Khan s/o Sher Muhammad is issued accordingly,” the Rawalpindi’s Senior Civil Judge (Criminal Division) Ghulam Akbar had stated in the earlier order.

The court documents showed that an FIR No 20/19 under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.,) 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 109 (punishment of abetment) read with Section 5(2) (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, had been registered against the minister.

As per the documents, ACE had maintained before the court that the minister was nominated in the FIR and that his arrest was necessary for the case.

It merits mention here that Punjab Home Adviser Omer Sarfraz Cheema on Thursday directed the IG Punjab to ensure arrest of Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan.