LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Friday directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to immediately release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Ch. Parvez Elahi.
Justice Amjad Rafiq heard the petition of Pervez Elahi against his arrest in an alleged corruption case by the NAB. The judge, while announcing the verdict, barred the authorities from arresting the former Punjab chief minister in any other case.
Elahi was first arrested on June 1 in a corruption case. He was discharged in the case very next day, only to be arrested in another.
In mid-July, Elahi was detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance for 30 days.
Upon completion of the detention on August 14, the Lahore NAB team took him into custody from the Adiala Jail in a case of allegedly receiving kickbacks.
At the outset of the hearing today, Justice Rafiq asked why Elahi was not presented in the court.
The NAB prosecutor told the court that they were prepared to bring the former Punjab chief minister to court but they received a letter from the Punjab government today detailing threats to Pervez Elahi’s life. The accountability watchdog had even asked the government for security to bring Elahi to the court, he said and added the Punjab DIG had replied in a letter that bulletproof vehicles and police armoured vans were not available for being used in operation against riverine gangs.
The prosecutor said the NAB was ready to present Elahi without a security cover and added if something happens, who will be responsible. Here, Elahi’s lawyer Rana Intizar Hussain told the court that they were ready to provide a bulletproof vehicle for the purpose.
Subsequently, the court ordered the NAB authorities to present the PTI president within an hour and warned that it would otherwise issue arrest warrants for the Punjab DIG.
The NAB presented Elahi in the court at around 12:15pm. Justice Rafiq, however, asked why the NAB was hesitant to present the former chief minister in the court. He then ordered Pervez Elahi’s release and barred authorities from arresting him in any other case.
