Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah appeared before Lahore High Court on Monday in the case registered against him by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab province.
Last week, the Rawalpindi bench of LHC suspended a non-bailable warrant to arrest Rana Sanaullah in the Bismillah Housing Scheme case, Geo News reported.
Apart from the minister, the director general of ACE Punjab was also summoned by the LHC.
The warrants were issued by a special magistrate for failing to appear in an inquiry regarding a corruption case filed against the minister. ACE Punjab had tried arresting the minister but failed to do so.
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, according to Geo News.
Earlier, Advisor to the Chief Minister of Punjab on home affairs 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, reported Geo News.
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 issued the arrest warrant against Sanaullah in the Bismillah Housing Scheme case at the request of ACE Punjab to initiate the inquiry.
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, according to Geo News.
"During the investigation, it has been revealed that in the opening ceremony of Bismillah Housing Society, Colony Kallar Kahar, Rana Sanaullah, who was provincial law minister at that time, participated along with his wife. The housing society's owner gifted Sanaullah two plots measuring 10 kanals as a bribe," the adviser had said and added the plots in question were transferred to Sanaullah by the society at a much lower than scheduled rate, according to dawn.
Abbasi had said these two plots were still in the possession of Sanaullah and his wife, which itself was "proof" that he had got these as a bribe by using his official position.
He said the case was registered in 2019 but the minister did not appear before ACE. "Sanaullah was re-summoned on Oct 6 but he did not appear before the ACE after which non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against him," he said.
The retired brigadier said the ACE was taking indiscriminate action against the corrupt elements and no one was above the law.
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 had 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 as quoted by Geo News.
( With inputs from ANI )
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