- Former Punjab CM and PTI president Parvez Elahi was shifted to Adiala jail.
- The court rejects ACE’s statement requesting Elahi’s physical remand for 14 days.
- LHC rejects NAB’s appeal against a single-member court.
A local court in Lahore sent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf president Parvez Elahi to Adiala jail on a 14-day judicial remand in two cases related to illegal appointments.
Judicial Magistrate Imran Abid announced the reserved verdict on the same day after all parties presented their final arguments.
According to first information reports (FIR), Elahi made 12 illegal recruitments in the Punjab Assembly in 17th grade posts and appointed Muhammad Khan Bhatti as his chief secretary in violation of the law.
After the one-day transitional remand was over, the PTI president was produced before the court by officials of the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE). The ACE prosecutor pleaded with the court to grant physical remand for 14 days to the PTI leader, which the court rejected.
A day earlier, Elahi was involved in yet another case as he will now head to Lahore with the Punjab ACE following the approval of his request for temporary remand.
After an anti-terrorism court (ATC) ordered to send him to remand in the case relating to the attack on the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC), the Punjab ACE has stepped in to seek remand of the senior politician in a fresh case filed in Lahore by abuse their power and position to change the provincial bureaucracy.
According to an FIR, Elahi has been booked under section 5/2(d) 47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) for unlawfully abusing his position and power as the then Chief Minister of Punjab and transferring Muhammad Khan Bhatti, an employee. in a special department of the Punjab Assembly, to a principal secretary.
ATC judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain approved Punjab ACE’s request to issue one-day interim remand to Elahi after reserving his verdict following arguments raised by the anti-graft department.
It should be noted that Elahi was initially arrested on June 1 in a corruption case, amid a crackdown on the PTI in the wake of the May 9 protests. After this, he was arrested several times in different cases, including the two money laundering cases.
The case of illegal appointment
According to details provided by an ACE spokesperson, Elahi conducted 12 illegal recruitments in the Punjab Assembly for Grade 17 posts.
The candidates were recruited in the provincial assembly by altering the minutes. “The illegal recruitments were carried out through fake testing services,” the spokesperson said.
He said the ACE investigation showed that fake recruitments were carried out in the Punjab Assembly and added that anti-corruption also arrested secretary Rai Mumtaz Hussain in connection with this case on the basis of evidence.
“Rai Mumtaz was involved in a fake recruitment process with Parvez Elahi,” he said.
LHC rejects NAB request
Earlier today, the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal against the court’s August 31 order, declaring it inadmissible.
Last month, the LHC single bench comprising Justice Amjad Rafiq ordered the NAB to release Elahi after the anti-graft watchdog sought more time to file its response explaining his arrest.
The NAB subsequently filed an appeal before the LHC against the single court order. After hearing the arguments, a two-member bench of the LHC, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, declared the appeal inadmissible and closed the case.