Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday appeared before the Supreme Court to defend himself in connection with his statement in which he had allegedly stated that Dr Babar Awan, former federal Law Minister, was liable to death.
Proceedings were conducted by Justice Ghulam Rabbani in his chamber and further hearing was adjourned till August 4. Dr Babar Awan had moved an application before the apex Court seeking constitution of a judicial commission to examine Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah's statement declaring him liable to be killed.
Citing Articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution, he sought Court's intervention in the matter by claiming that if anything happened to his person, life, property or family, Sanaullah would be held responsible.
He said that he had also learnt that Punjab government wanted to arrest him on a false charge or some other pretext and then facilitate an attack on his life either in jail, police station or a local court. The public announcement by Sanaullah, for all practical purposes and intents, amounted to passing of an extra-judicial death sentence against him, particularly keeping in view the trends of extra-judicial killings by the Punjab police, he added.
He claimed he had learnt through former federal minister and a prominent leader and Sardar from Balochistan that some outlaws at or near Fort Manro, a border area of Punjab and Balochistan, were contacted on behalf of the executive of Punjab and were asked to attack him between Gujranwala and Lahore. He said they were offered the assistance of police and complete security cover to accomplish the task.
These outlaws later came to know about him and revealed the plan to the Baloch Sardar. He said that the Punjab government had earlier staged a drama of so-called assassination plot of former chief justice of the Lahore High Court alleging that Babar Awan was part of the conspiracy. The former Law minister said that in a similar case, former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah had taken suo motu action on the application of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto when a PML-N adviser from Sindh, Sahibzada Munir stated in a press statement that Asif
Ali Zardari would be hanged.