Judge hearing Rana Sanaullah contraband case transferred

LAHORE: The law ministry has repatriated a judge of the Anti-Narcotics Force court who was hearing a contraband case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Rana Sanaullah.

According to a notification from the ministry dated August 26, the services of ANF court judge Masood Arshad have been repatriated to the Lahore High Court. 

The ANF court judge was hearing a case again Rana Sanaullah, who was arrested on July 1 after the ANF said it discovered a large stash of contraband in his vehicle.

Judge Arshad resumed hearing of the case earlier today, but following a short recess, he announced that his services had been repatriated.

The judge said he received a WhatsApp message today repatriating his services to the LHC, following which Rana Sanaullah’s lawyer said the case by the ANF was weak, which is why a break was taken during the hearing.

Judge Arshad said that he is accountable to Almighty Allah and the decision would have been on merit regardless of it being against Sanaullah or someone else.

The law ministry in its statement following the development in the case, denied sending a WhatsApp message to the judge. It said that no judge was ordered anything on a message.

In the Aug 26 notification, the law ministry had repatriated services of three session judges to the LHC. Accountability court No 1 judge Mushtaq Elahi, and court No 5 judge Naeem Arshad were also repatriated to the high court, according to the notification.