LAHORE: A special court for narcotics control on Saturday allowed a one-time exemption from personal appearance to Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan in a narcotics case against him.
The interior minister, in his plea, said he was busy maintaining the law and order situation in Rawalpindi in the wake of the protest march.
The court adjourned further proceedings until December 3.
Khan was arrested in July 2019 by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway. Firdous Aashiq Awan, then-minister for information, said 15 kilograms of heroin was seized from his vehicle. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
He was later released on bail in December of the same year.
His lawyer, Azim Nazir Tarar, told Reuters at the time the accusations were “ridiculous”.
Tarar said Khan had told the court at his arrest hearing that police had intercepted his vehicle and driven him to their office in Lahore without elaborating any further. Officials told him later that heroin had been seized from his car, he said.
The anti-narcotics police said Khan himself pointed to a briefcase on the rear seat of the car when intercepted, and helped officers unzip a polythene bag containing the drugs.
