Pak court issues arrest warrant against minister Rana Sanaullah for threatening judiciary

Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court issued a bailable arrest warrant against interior minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday for allegedly threatening the judiciary and preventing government officials from "fulfilling their lawful responsibilities" during his public speeches, media reports said.

The case against Sanaullah, 68, was registered in August 2022.

During his public speeches last year and in 2021, the minister, a senior member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), threatened to stop the judiciary from doing its job and kill the children of Punjab police officials, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting the FIR.

The case was taken up by an anti-terrorism court on Friday in Gujrat city in Punjab province.

The FIR also produced the footage of the minister's remarks, which were aired by a private news channel last year.

The ATC court directed law enforcement officials to arrest Sanaullah and present him before the court on March 7, the Dawn report said.

The arrest warrant was bailable, media reports said.

"The purpose of Sanaullah's speeches was to terrorise the judiciary, chief secretary, commissioner and the people of the country," the FIR stated.

"His aim was to stop the officials from fulfilling their lawful responsibilities," it added.

During Friday's hearing, the Gujrat police submitted to the court its final report on the case by excluding Sanaullah's name, the report said.

The court, however, dismissed the report and issued notices to the investigating officers, it added.