The anti-corruption court of Lahore on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in a case related to illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.
Judge Ali Raza Awan of the Special Anti-Corruption Court pronounced a reserved decision after hearing the arguments on the former chief minister’s application a day ago.
The PTI leader was granted post-arrest bail on a surety bond of Rs 10 lakh.
Elahi was initially arrested on June 1 from outside his Gujranwala residence in a Rs 70 million corruption case related to embezzlement of development funds earmarked for Gujarat district.
After a district court in Lahore ordered his release, the PTI president was re-arrested by the Punjab ACE in a corruption case registered against him in Gujranwala.
He was then produced in a Gujranwala court on Saturday, which later booked him in a corruption case registered with the district’s anti-corruption police station for allegedly taking kickbacks in development funds earmarked for road construction in Gujarat. Acquitted of two cases.
However, minutes later he was arrested again by anti-corruption officials, in a case registered against him for alleged illegal recruitments in the Punjab Assembly when he was Speaker.It should be noted that Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Wark had sent the former Punjab Chief Minister to jail on 14-day judicial remand on June 4.
The issue of illegal recruitment
According to the details provided by the ACE spokesperson, Elahi made 12 illegal recruitments for Grade 17 posts in the Punjab Assembly.
Candidates were recruited in the provincial assembly by altering the records. “The illegal recruitments were done through fake testing services,” the spokesperson said.
He said that the investigation of ACE proved that fake recruitments were made in Punjab Assembly, he further said that anti-corruption has also arrested Secretary Rai Mumtaz Hussain in connection with this case based on the evidence.
“Roy was involved in a bogus recruitment process with Mumtaz Parvez Elahi,” he said.
Money laundering case registered against ElahiInformed sources have revealed that the former Punjab Chief Minister is likely to be re-arrested after getting bail in the illegal appointment case as another money laundering case has been registered against Elahi and his son.
Sources said Elahi and his son Monis Elahi allegedly invested billions of rupees in five Panamanian companies. He further said that the two bought Panamanian companies through “money laundering”. The sources further said that FIA has decided to issue a red warrant against Monis Elahi to bring him back to the country.
