The LHC, in its bail granting order, highlighted how the counsel for the petitioner (Rana Sanaullah) had argued that the case was registered because Sanaullah was a vocal member of the opposition and critical of the incumbent government.
It added in the order, shared by journalist Hasnaat Malik on Twitter, that though this argument could not be given much weight at this stage of the bail, in the context of the petitioner being a vocal political leader, this aspect could not be ignored as political victimisation was an open secret in the country.
Moreover, the court also observed that the case of the prosecution had lapses as they had alleged Sanaullah to be running a network of smuggling, but only 20 grammes of the alleged 15 kilogrammes of heroin recovered from the petitioner were produced before court.
https://twitter.com/HasnaatMalik/status/1210096932028387334?s=20
On Tuesday, the former Punjab law minister’s bail application had been granted by the Lahore High Court (LHC), and the court had issued orders for his release.
Following Sanaullah’s arrest, PML-N leaders had termed his arrest part of with-hunt against opposition leaders claiming that he was victimised for being a strong critic of Prime Minister Imran Khan.