No govt interference in Rana Sanaullah's case, says Shehryar Afridi.

ISLAMABAD -- Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) and Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi on Wednesday said that neither he nor Prime Minister Imran Khan had arrested PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah, adding that there had been "no interference" or political victimisation in the PML-N leader's legal proceedings.

Afridi's remarks come a day after the Lahore High Court granted bail to Sanaullah in a drug case filed against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). The court also ordered Sanaullah to submit two surety bonds of Rs1 million each.

Ahead of his press conference, in a statement, Afridi said they (the government) will challenge Sanaullah's bail in the Supreme Court. He said that they had still not been provided with the LHC order, adding that Sanaullah's bail had been granted in a verbal order.

"We will wait for the court's written order to present our stance," he wrote. Afridi, however, said that as the media had issued its verdict before the court's written order, the government wanted to take the nation into confidence on the matter.

We respect the court decisions and will continue to do so. Others should also respect the court decisions, not just decisions in your favour.

He said that some segments of the media had given the impression that the PML-N leader had been acquitted.

In a fiery press conference that followed, Afridi said Sanaullah had been granted bail, not acquitted, adding that a perception had been created that the case was weak.

"All evidence was submitted to the court within 17 days of the arrest," Afridi said, adding that he had seen the evidence with his own eyes.

Following Sanaullah's arrest in July, Afridi had said the ANF had "video footage" of the PML-N Punjab president before it moved to arrest him.

"One thing is being connected to me - video, video, video.

"In the first press conference, with the DG ANF [...] I referenced some footage. It was presented in a strange way."

In response to a query over the "footages" in question, Afridi said: "Look at all my press conferences [...] wherever I spoke about the videos I said [we have the] footages. In 17 days, all things were provided."

Afridi said his reference to videos had "repeatedly been made an issue", adding that this was the job of the prosecution in courts.

"It is not my job or yours, why should we be the judges or the jury. This is the job of the courts. The case will be presented in the courts, where a trial [will take place].

"We will take this...