LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Thursday discharged PTI President Parvez Elahi in a case of alleged corruption in sugar quota allocation to mills, but granted his two-day physical remand to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in another case related to illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.

A team of the ACE brought Mr Elahi from Adiala jail on a one-day transit remand to present him before the magistrate at district courts.

The ACE alleged that Mr Elahi had “illegally” allowed the establishment of Rahim Yar Khan Sugar Mills in 2007 when he was the Punjab chief minister.

During his second stint in 2022, it said, Mr Elahi got Punjab Industries Control on Establishment and Enlargement Amen­dment Bill passed from the Punjab Assembly to let RY Khan Sugar Mills enhance its crushing capacity to 50,000 tonnes per day after paying the fee.

Yasmin Rashid, Omar Cheema and Khadija Shah’s judicial remand extended

The agency said that Mr Elahi’s son, Moonis Elahi, was a shareholder and partner in the sugar mills, and all these illegal actions were taken to benefit him.

Rana Intezar Hussain, President of the Lahore Bar Association, represented Mr Elahi and opposed the physical remand. He asserted that the PTI leader had no connection to these charges.

Judicial Magistrate Imran Abid announced his verdict on the remand request, discharging Mr Elahi in the case. However, the magistrate approved a two-day physical remand for Mr Elahi to the ACE in another case related to alleged illegal appointments in the assembly.

Previously, the magistrate had denied the remand of Mr Elahi to the ACE in this case, and a special court for anti-corruption had released him on bail. The prosecution challenged the bail in the Lahore High Court (LHC), which suspended the special court’s decision with instructions for a review. Mr Elahi also filed a petition in the LHC against the withdrawal of his bail by the special court.

Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmad heard Elahi’s petition on Thursday and reserved a verdict.

In a brief chat with reporters, Mr Elahi said it appeared that all the relief was for Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif.

PTI leaders’ remand extended

Separately, an anti-terrorism court on Thursday extended the judicial remand of PTI-Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid, former governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema, former MNA Robina Jameel and fashion designer Khadija Shah in the May 9 riots cases.

The police presented the PTI leaders and activists before the court on expiry of their 14-day judicial remand as final challans (investigation reports) in the May 9 cases are still awaited.

Judge Abhar Gul Khan directed the police to ensure submission of the challans by the next hearing and extended the judicial remand of the suspects till Nov 9.

In a brief conversation with reporters, Dr Rashid challenged Nawaz Sharif to contest election against her, suggesting that if Sharif was brave, he should run in the upcoming election.

Mr Cheema, without naming anyone, stated that they wanted to make him and others hold a press conference. “If we wanted to leave PTI, we would have done so earlier,” he said.

ATC issues robkar

In a relevant development, an anti-terrorism court issued a release order for Khadija Shah in two cases related to attacks on the Jinnah House and Askari Tower during the May 9 riots.

Her husband provided surety bonds of Rs1.4 million as directed by the LHC. The court had granted her bail on Oct 18, but the police arrested her in a third case related to May 9 to stop her release.

A hearing for a contempt petition against her fresh arrest is scheduled before the high court for today (Friday).

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023