LAHORE: The indictment of PTI President Parvez Elahi in two corruption cases was delayed once again on Wednesday by respective trial courts on the request of his lawyers.

Incarcerated Mr Elahi was first produced before a special court for anti-corruption in a case of alleged illegal appointments made in the Punjab Assembly during his stint as the chief minister.

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A counsel for the PTI leader asked the court to defer the indictment as complete documents of the challan had not been provided by the prosecution. He said the charges could not be framed without supplying complete documents to the defence.

Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta directed a prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Establishment to provide all documents to the defence before the next hearing.

The judge maintained that the charges would be framed on the suspects on March 11 without further delay.

Muhammad Khan Bhatti, former principal secretary to the CM, was also produced before the court.

Later, a NAB team presented Elahi and Bhatti before an accountability court for indictment in a reference of receiving kickbacks for releasing funds of the development schemes for Gujrat division.

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Judge Shahzad Kiyani expressed his displeasure over the prosecution for presenting the suspects with delay. He sought a written explanation on the matter.

The lawyers for the suspects told the court that they received better copies of the reference, however, needed some time to go through the documents so they could contest the indictment.

The judge allowed the request of the defence counsel and deferred the indictment of the suspects till March 19.

The NAB alleged that Bhatti being the principal secretary to then chief minister Parvez Elahi manoeuvred the award of contracts in favour of blue-eyed contractors in connivance with other suspects, including officials of government departments.

It said the suspect released full payment to the contractors even before the commencement of construction work only to receive kickbacks.

The bureau alleged that the money from the corruption committed by Bhatti had been transferred to the bank accounts of Mr Elahi and his son, Moonis Elahi.

BAIL: A special court for anti-corruption on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail to PTI President Parvez Elahi’s wife Qaisera Elahi, son Rasikh Elahi and daughter-in-law Zara Elahi in Rawalpindi Ring Road corruption case.

The court allowed the bail till March 16 and directed the petitioners to furnish surety bonds.

Judicial remand: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday sent anchorperson Imran Riaz to jail on judicial remand in a case of violence outside Zaman Park residence of PTI founder Imran Khan.

Racecourse police presented the anchorperson before the court on expiry of his five-day physical remand.

The investigating officer did not seek further remand of the media person, who is known for supporting the ‘agenda’ of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The lawyers for the anchorperson asked the court to discharge the case.

However, Judge Naveed Iqbal sent the suspect on judicial remand for 14 days.

Separately, a Lahore High Court division bench issued notices to the prosecution and the police on a petition by Imran Riaz challenging his physical remand in the violence case.

Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, who headed the bench, observed that the physical remand of the petitioner stood expired.

Advocate Azhar Siddique, the counsel for the anchorperson, said the petition was filed challenging the grant of the physical remand by the trial court without appreciating the facts of the case.

He said the petitioner was not a member of any political party. He pointed out that the petitioner being a media person was present outside Zaman Park to cover a peaceful protest.

A single bench of the high court also issued notices on another petition by the anchorperson challenging the inclusion of his name in the passport control list.

The bench adjourned the hearing till Thursday (today).

Previously, a special court for anti-corruption granted post-arrest bail to Imran Riaz in a graft case about the contract of Dhrabi Lake in Chakwal.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2024