Punjab ACE a political tool: LHC

RAWALPINDI: Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench showed strong displeasure with the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment and said that the institutions have become political instruments.

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) took a U-turn in a land scandal case against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and told the court that it did not want the arrest of Rana Sanaullah. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was present in the court on Friday.

The court has disposed of the interior minister’s plea for the cancellation of the arrest warrant and sent the case to the lower court. The trial court will decide on the case, and the petitioner can file an appeal under Article 249A in the trial court for an acquittal, the judge said.

During the hearing, the judge said that the institutions have become political instruments. “One comes to sue and the other comes to dismiss the case.” The court inquired if the case was registered directly or on the source report, to which the ACE investigating officer replied that the case was registered on the report made by Inquiry Deputy Director Abdur Rahman.

The court said that on this matter, we will follow the Moonis Elahi money laundering case. The judge said that if the ACE makes a statement that Rana Sanaullah should not be arrested, the case will be immediately closed; otherwise, the anti-corruption department will have to provide the court with answers.

“I will see how you can stay as DG after making a false statement,” Justice Sadaqat remarked. The ACE told the court that it did not want the arrest of Sanaualla, to which the judge remarked with a smirk that “you solved this matter easily.”

The court said that it will issue the challenge according to the law, which will include the interior minister’s name. Subsequently, the LHC Rawalpindi Bench disposed of the petition filed by the anti-corruption department.

Earlier, Sanaullah had challenged the issuance of his arrest warrant in a case registered by the ACE about an alleged land scam. The appeal was heard by the LHC Rawalpindi Bench. The judge had asked the ACE lawyers to satisfy the court that Rana Sanaullah took a bribe, which witness had testified that the bribe was paid and why the ACE made the case.

He questioned how the warrant was issued against the interior minister when his name had not been mentioned in the first information report (FIR) of the case. The ACE investigation team replied that Rana Sana’s name was not mentioned in the FIR but the name of a provincial minister had been mentioned. The court was also informed that the accused and his wife paid less than the DC rate.

The court observed that there could be thousands of ministers, adding that if the amount paid was less than the DC rate, a penalty could be imposed. The LHC Rawalpindi Bench reprimanded the ACE and ordered its investigation team to appear in court with full preparation, including a complete record and evidence about the case. The interior minister had said that he had not committed any crime, adding that the Punjab government was making a false case against him. He had alleged that the ACE director-general was acting at the behest of the provincial government.