On Saturday, Lahore’s Special Court (Central) granted PTI President Parvez Elahi post-arrest release in a money laundering case, just days after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) detained him and imprisoned him.
Elahi was hauled into prison from the district jail in the aforementioned case on June 21. The FIA sought physical custody, but a district judge denied it, and he was imprisoned on judicial remand. He has been charged with money laundering using five corporations and frontmen.
On the same day, his son Rasikh Elahi petitioned the Lahore High Court (LHC) for documents on all cases brought against his father, as well as a protective bail.
The next day, a special court for banking offences issued notices to the FIA on Elahi’s post-arrest bail plea while confirming his son and two daughters-in-law’s interim pre-arrest bail.
While Elahi was in jail, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz appeared in court today as Elahi’s counsel. Meanwhile, the FIA had objected to his bail application being accepted.
Later, judge Bakht Fakhar Bahzad’s court issued an order releasing the PTI president from the District Camp jail, stating that Elahi will be released “if not wanted in any other case and after confirmation of surety bonds.”
Elahi’s bail application for Rs10,000 surety bonds was granted by the court.
Elahi’s protection bail is sought by Son.
Rasikh Elahi, Elahi’s son, had petitioned the LHC on June 21 for documents on all proceedings against his father as well as precautionary bail.
Rasikh named as respondents in the petition Punjab’s caretaker administration, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), the FIA, Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar, the capital city police officer, and the deputy inspector general.
The petition, a copy of which is accessible to Dawn.com, requests that the LHC order the respondents to “produce all the details of criminal cases/FIRs registered against the petitioner’s father that have not been disclosed by the respondents.”
Read more : The court in Gujranwala delays judgement over Parvez Elahi’s physical detention.
It also requested precautionary bail for Elahi in the money laundering case in which the PTI president was arrested on June 20.
Rasikh also asked the LHC to order the respondents not to arrest Elahi “while he is being released from Camp Jail Lahore until the petitioner has been provided with copies of the FIRs lodged against” Elahi, and to give Elahi a “reasonable opportunity of at least three days to apply for anticipatory/protective bail.”
The appeal claimed that Elahi was being “politically victimised” by Punjab’s law enforcement agencies and that the ACE had unjustly implicated him in several cases. It described the manner of raids conducted at Elahi’s house on April 28 as being similar to “conducting an operation in the tribal (katcha) areas of district Rahim Yar Khan, without showing any regard to the dignity and privacy of the family of the petitioner”.
The plea had recalled a May court order to not arrest Elahi in “any of the cases registered against him till today” and stated that five cases have been filed against the PTI president by the ACE.
