LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday wrapped up a bail petition by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah after he withdrew his plea, saying complete case facts are yet to be disclosed.
During the hearing, headed by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, defense counsel Azam Nazir Tarar maintained that facts are yet to be disclosed in the trial court; therefore, his client wants to withdraw the bail petition.
An investigation officer of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had been made respondent in the petition which claimed that the PML-N leader is being “politically victimized” owing to his criticism of the incumbent government.
The petition claimed that the first information report (FIR) against Sanaullah was registered with a delay, and the quantity of recovered heroin was changed from 21kg to 15kg making the case suspicious.
The FIR was registered under section 9 (C) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail-term that may extend to 14 years along with a fine up to Rs1 million.
However, the section states if the quantity of the narcotic exceeds 10kg the punishment shall not be less than life imprisonment. Some other provisions of the Act and the Pakistan Penal Code were also added to the FIR to charge the suspects for attacking the personnel of the ANF and obstructing them from performing their official duty.