On Tuesday, former Punjab chief minister and current president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pervez Elahi, went to the Lahore High Court (LHC) to appeal his arrest by the accountability court “in violation of LHC orders.”
Amid Saeed Rawn, Elahi’s attorney, filed the petition on his behalf, citing the LHC’s order barring the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and the Punjab Police from arresting Elahi in connection with any unrevealed or unresolved investigations or FIRs.
The petition claimed that despite court orders for NAB to reveal all criminal charges and current probes against Elahi, the anti-graft bureau did not do so until June 9, 2023.
Thus, LHC’s orders issued on July 13, 2023 — for which a comprehensive verdict was issued just this week — are in conflict with NAB’s arrest in this investigation.
According to the plea, Elahi has been politically persecuted ever since caretaker Punjab CM Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi was appointed. The petition claims that Elahi has been falsely accused of wrongdoing in a number of cases by the state.
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It goes on to say that Elahi was not released from Lahore district jail on July 15, when his attorney petitioned prison authorities, despite having been granted protective bail for two disclosed FIRs and a restraining order gained against blind or undisclosed FIRs and investigations.
A detention order from the Lahore deputy commissioner was given as the reason for Elahi’s incarceration, however the petition claims that the order wasn’t issued until July 16, 2023.
Elahi’s lawyer has also claimed that NAB opened an investigation on July 18, 2023, following an inquiry that began on June 9, 2023.
The petition states that on August 11 NAB issued an arrest warrant and on August 14 the bureau brought Elahi into jail. The petition further states that on August 25 Elahi was served with a call-up notice informing him of an additional probe that has since evolved into an investigation.
In the petition, Elahi’s attorneys asked the court to prevent the respondents from detaining him in any pending or future criminal cases, inquiries, or investigations that have not been made public. They also asked that he be released for “at least a reasonable time as the court may deem appropriate” so that the former CM may seek legal recourse.
NAB’s most recent arrest and call-up notice for Elahi is challenged, as it is in direct defiance of previous court decisions.
On August 15, a court hearing a case involving the alleged award of illicit contracts during Elahi’s second tenure as Punjab CM confined him to NAB prison for one week.
Minutes after being released from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after serving his 30-day sentence, he was apprehended by the country’s top graft buster.
Since the riots on May 9, the former CM has been arrested several times.
