• Minister reaches LHC Rawalpindi bench.
• LHC had suspended arrest warrant last week.
•  Warrants were issued on ACE Punjab request.

RAWALPINDI: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan on Monday appeared before the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench in a case filed against him by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab.

Apart from the minister, the director general of ACE Punjab was also been summoned by the LHC.

Last week, the Rawalpindi bench of LHC suspended a non-bailable warrant to arrest Rana Sanaullah Khan. 

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.

On the same day, ACE Punjab was also issued a notice by the Rawalpindi bench in which it 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 summoned ACE along with the case records on October 17 (today).

Bismillah Housing Scheme case

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 plots in a housing society that were 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 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.