LAHORE: An anti-narcotics court in Lahore on Saturday deferred the indictment of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab president Rana Sanaullah Khan in a drug case filed against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).
The court conducted the hearing of the case against wherein the accused and his lawyer Azam Nazeer Tarar also appeared.
The indictment was deferred by the court until April 3.
Tarar told the court the co-accused had developed symptoms of coronavirus, thereby he could not appear. At this, the judge sought the coronavirus report.
The defense said the patient was lying in an isolation ward and the report has not been issued yet. The judge said the court is giving one-week time for the submission of the report.
Tarar sought more time for the next hearing. The judge remarked that Khan gave statements before the camera that he will slow down proceedings in the case.
The counsel said nobody will say something like this as he has now arrived here.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing till April 3.
In July 2019, the former Punjab law minister was arrested by the ANF Lahore team while he was travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore near the Ravi Toll Plaza on the motorway, claiming to have seized 15-kilogram heroin from his vehicle.
A special team of the force had also arrested five others, including the driver and security guards of the PML-N leader.
The FIR was lodged under Section 9(C) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, which carries a death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail term that may extend to 14 years, along with a fine up to Rs1 million.
