LAHORE , June 20, 2023: An anti-corruption court on Tuesday granted PTI president Parvez Elahi post-arrest bail in the Punjab Assembly (PA) illegal recruitments’ case.
It came as the court pronounced a verdict it had reserved earlier. Judge Ali Raza heard the plea and announced the verdict.
Earlier, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain invited Mr Elahi to return to the party. Mr Hussain went to jail to meet his cousin months after the latter bade goodbye to the PML-Q and joined the PTI.
Mr Hussain visited the Camp Jail to see Mr Elahi and reportedly held an hour-long meeting. Federal minister Chaudhry Saalik Hussain accompanied the PML-Q chief.
Read Also: Parvez Elahi arrested again despite getting bail in graft case
Mr Hussain invited Mr Elahi to rejoin the PML-Q, however, the latter refused to quit the PTI, sources disclosed. After the meeting, they said, Mr Elahi’s son Moonis tweeted that the jail authorities disallowed his mother and the lawyers to see his father in prison.
Taking to Twitter, Moonis Elahi wrote, “My father is not allowed to meet his lawyers and my mother. Today Punjab Prisons IG took Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his son Chaudhry Saalik Hussain for a meeting with my father. Now they will say that they have allowed Mr Elahi to meet his family.”
The court had, earlier, adjourned the hearing on the plea when the prosecution said it had challenged the decision to send Elahi to jail on judicial remand before a sessions court. When the hearing resumed, the judge asked the parties whether the matter had been resolved. Mr Elahi’s lawyer Rana Intezar informed the judge that he had argued his case before the sessions judge.
Judge Raza asked the investigating officer about the record of the case and he replied that it had been submitted in another case. The judge showed his displeasure and said he would order registration of a case against the investigating officer.
He asked the prosecution to submit a written reply about the record. On it, the prosecution requested the court for adjournment and the judge granted his request.
The judge, earlier, asked Rana Intezar to contest the prosecution’s plea, to which the lawyer said he was not provided any record. On it the judge summoned the parties again.
It may be recalled that Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk on June 4 rejected the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) application seeking 14-day physical remand of the former chief minister. According to an ACE spokesperson, Elahi made 12 illegal recruitments in Punjab Assembly on grade 17 positions. The candidates were recruited by tampering with the records and through fake testing services, he said.
The investigation by the ACE proved that fake recruitments were made in the Punjab Assembly, adding that the watchdog has also arrested Secretary Rai Mumtaz in connection with this case on the basis of evidence.