LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday extended physical remand of former chief minister and PTI president Parvez Elahi till Sept 2 in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case of allegedly receiving kickbacks in development schemes launched in Gujrat division.

The NAB produced Mr Elahi before the court on the expiry of his previous remand.

Special Prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua told the court that the suspect had not responded to a NAB questionnaire during the last 15 days.

He said the suspect filed his reply hours before the court’s hearing, therefore, the investigators required time to go through it.

He, however, said the suspect expressed ignorance in response to most of the questions asked by the investigators, adding that Mr Elahi also failed to justify a transaction of Rs120 million in his bank account.

The bank accounts of the suspect’s family had been used for corruption, he said.

The prosecutor said co-suspects Moonis Elahi, Muhammad Khan Bhatti and Mehar Azmat were the confidants of Mr Elahi. He said Azmat had become an approver in the case.

Elahi’s counsel Amjad Pervez opposed further remand, saying the former chief minister was in the government’s custody since June 1. He said the NAB arrested Elahi shortly after his release from Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, upon completion of his 30-day detention period.

The counsel said the Lahore High Court had already upheld an order about protective bail to Elahi and against his arrest in any undisclosed case. Therefore, he argued that there was no justification for further remand to the NAB.

After hearing the arguments, Judge Sajid Ali Awan extended the remand of Elahi till Sept 2.

Separately, the judge turned down a NAB request for further physical remand of Sohail Asghar Awan, a secretary to former federal minister Moonis Elahi, and sent him to jail on judicial remand in the same case of alleged corruption in development schemes launched in Gujrat division.

The NAB launched an investigation against the suspects, including former chief minister Parvez Elahi, his son Moonis Elahi and Sohail Asghar Awan. NAB is also probing the officials of C&W and highway departments posted in Gujrat, namely Saadat Nawaz Ajnala and Mehar Azmat Hayat on the allegations of misuse of authority and receiving illegal gratification.

It alleged that the investigation prima facie established that the suspects, including the then chief minister, approved schemes under supplementary grants and awarded contracts to their favourite contractors against kickbacks in sheer violation of the rules.

The bureau alleged that Elahi, being chief minister, influenced the co-suspects and got at least 116 schemes approved.

It said Elahi misused his position and influenced award of the contracts of the schemes to his favourite contractors and received kickbacks through his co-suspects and his son Moonis.

The NAB said the suspects caused a huge loss to the state exchequer through their corrupt practices.

Moonis Elahi, who left the country last year, faces multiple cases of corruption and money laundering registered against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2023