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Lahore court remands Elahi to NAB’s custody in bribery case

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  • Judge Zubair Shehzad Kiyani presides over the hearing.
  • Court approves seven-day physical remand of Elahi.
  • Court directs NAB to submit response to PTI president’s plea.

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore Tuesday remanded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi to National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody till August 21 in a case of bribery over development project contracts.

The former Punjab chief minister — who has been detained back-to-back — was arrested yet again by NAB officials shortly after being released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Monday night.

However, as soon as the PTI president walked free, the NAB officials apprehended him and presented him before Judicial Magistrate Khalid Hayat to seek his transitory remand.

Today the NAB officials, whose request for the transitory remand was accepted last night, presented Elahi before a Lahore court.

The accountability court judge, Zubair Shehzad Kiyani, presided over the hearing in Lahore. 

During the hearing, Special Prosecutor Waris Janjua sought Elahi’s 14-day physical remand on NAB’s behalf. He informed the court that a supplementary grant of Rs72 billion was issued for specific sectors of Gujrat under Elahi as Punjab CM. 

Others facing charges in the same case have been remanded, he added.

At this, the court approved a seven-day physical remand — half as requested by the prosecution — of Elahi, who sought permission to meet his wife and son.

However, the court directed NAB to submit a response to the PTI president’s plea.

Elahi was initially arrested on June 1 from outside his residence in an Rs70 million graft case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district.

Since then, the former Punjab chief minister has been behind bars on various charges. During a span of around two and half months, the PTI leader was released multiple times on the courts’ orders but was re-arrested immediately every time.

The PTI president was taken into custody during a crackdown launched against the party’s leadership following the May 9 riots.

The riots were triggered almost across the country after the PTI chairman’s arrest in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9 which led to the deaths of at least eight people and injured several others, prompting the authorities to arrest thousands of PTI workers.

During the protests, the miscreants attacked the civil and military installations including — Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House) in Lahore Cantt and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

The military called May 9 “Black Day” and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed May 9 as the “darkest day in the [country’s] history” and announced to try the suspects in the military courts.

The National Security Committee had also endorsed the decision of the top brass to act against rioters under the Army Act.

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Imran Khan’s bail request in the Toshakhana-II case has had its objections dismissed.

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In the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the objections to PTI founder Imran Khan’s bail request.

IHC instructed the registrar’s office to schedule the hearing for the case for Monday.

Imran Khan’s attorneys, Shaheena Shahab, Ayesha Khalid, and others, arrived in court today as IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

The registrar’s objections to the plea were questioned by Justice Aurangzeb. In the Toshakhana-II case, Imran Khan submitted a bail application, according to counsel Ayesha Khalid.

Justice Miangul said that previous rulings in circumstances comparable to this one adhered to the consistency principle. In this instance, the petitioner was a man, he added.

Bushra Bibi was given bail because she was a woman, according to the justice, and an application like this one was denied yesterday.

Given that the case action date was November and the power of attorney was executed in July, Justice Aurangzeb raised a concern about the timing.

Justice requested the help of Advocate Shah Khawar in this case.

When an applicant was held in jail, Shah Khawar retorted that it was standard procedure to obtain signatures on required documents, such as a power of attorney.

Imran Khan’s attorney, Shaheena Shahab, asked the court to send out notices regarding the bail plea. A judge named Aurangzeb said that the law would be observed.

Following arguments, the court dismissed the registrar office’s objections and ordered that the case hearing be scheduled for Monday.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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