Rana Sanaullah has been granted bail, not acquittal: Shehryar Afridi.

ISLAMABAD -- Minister of States for Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi on Wednesday defended his viewpoint over Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan's legal proceedings - as he has been granted bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a narcotics case filed against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) - by maintaining that there had been "no interference or political victimisation' in the case.

'Neither I nor Prime Minister Imran Khan had arrested Rana Sanaullah,' Afridi remarked during a press conference a day after Rana Sanaullah got bail.

'Sanaullah had been granted bail, not acquittal [...] the case is still in courts,' he said, adding that the ANF was a professional force.

"Did the prime minister arrest him (Sanaullah)? Did I? [...] certainly not," he said, adding: "We did not interfere in his legal proceedings, there is no victimisation at any level.

"Time will prove this. This is the season of bails," Afridi stated, adding: "Remember that the ANF is a professional force [...] We need to strengthen institutions, Shehryar will come and go, rulers will come and go, the real thing is the institutions of Pakistan."

Afridi had said the ANF had "complete footage" of the PML-N Punjab president before it moved to arrest him.

Shehryar Afridi alleged that Rana Sanaullah's legal team was adopting delaying tactics in the drugs trafficking case. 'After the bail a perception was created in the media that Rana Sanaullah was innocent,' said the minister. "Rana Sanaullah has not been acquitted by the court."

Afridi clarified that he did not speak about the issue earlier as he was out of the country. 'This is a season of bails,' commented the state minister, while insisting that the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) is a professional...