The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been ordered by the Lahore High Court (LHC) to release PTI President Parvez Elahi.
Elahi’s petition to have his arrest in an alleged corruption case by the NAB dismissed was being heard by Justice Amjad Rafiq. The judge disallowed authorities from detaining the former chief minister of Punjab in any subsequent case after announcing the verdict.
On June 1, Elahi was initially detained in connection with a corruption investigation. The following day, he was released from custody in that case only to be detained in another.
Elahi was detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance for 30 days in the middle of July after being ordered to be released from Lahore’s Camp Jail, where he was being held in connection with a money laundering case.
The Lahore NAB team arrested Elahi from the Adiala Jail after the MPO detention ended on August 14 in connection with an allegation that he had accepted bribes or kickbacks in exchange for securing “contracts of road schemes of Gujrat Highways Division awarded to favorite/hand-picked contractors.”
After being freed today, Elahi spoke with reporters and blasted the PML-N for causing the nation’s inflation. After wrecking the economy, “all of them have fled to London,” he said.
The PTI president continued, “They have kept me inside, I don’t even know what is happening in the country.”
The hearing
Justice Rafiq questioned the reason Elahi was not presented in court at the beginning of today’s hearing.
The NAB prosecutor responded by saying that although the accountability watchdog was ready to prosecute the former chief minister, it had just received a letter from the Punjab government outlining threats against Elahi’s life.
He added that the Punjab deputy inspector general (DIG) had responded in a letter that bulletproof cars and police armoured vans were being used in the operation against riverine gangs. “The NAB had even asked the government for security to bring Elahi here [the court],” he said.
The prosecutor continued, “but if something happens who will be responsible” after stating that the NAB was prepared to present Elahi without security.
Rana Intizar Hussain, Elahi’s attorney, stated, “We are prepared to provide a bulletproof
The court then gave the anti-graft organisation an hour to present the PTI president, or else it would issue an arrest warrant for the Punjab DIG.
The NAB presented Elahi in court at about 12:15. Justice Rafiq, however, questioned once more the accountability bureau’s reluctance to call the former chief minister to testify in court.
Elahi was then released, and he was forbidden from being arrested again in the future.
