LAHORE: A special court (Control of Narcotics Substance) on Saturday adjourned till November 19 the hearing of a drug recovery case against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan.

The court also allowed one time exemption to Rana Sana as he did not attend the hearing due to official responsibilities in Islamabad.

The Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) had arrested Rana Sana on July 1, 2019 and claimed to have recovered 15 kg heroin from his vehicle. The FIR was lodged under section 9 (C) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997. Meanwhile an accountability court on Saturday extended interim pre-arrest bail of Kamran Kiani, a brother former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, and Nadeem Zia, one of the owners of Paragon City till October 29, in Punjab Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme corruption reference.

In this reference, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been granted a permanent exemption from personal appearance in the proceedings. A pleader, however, attended the proceedings on behalf of the prime minister.

Earlier, the counsel for the prime minister and other accused persons requested the court to conclude the trial proceedings expeditiously. They said the majority of the prosecution witnesses had been cross examined. They said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should file a separate reference against the suspects Kiani and Zia who recently joined the investigation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022