Lahore Court approves 14-day judicial remand of Parvez Elahi in illegal appointment case

A local court in Lahore granted a 14-day judicial remand for the detained Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President, Parvez Elahi, in a case related to illegal appointments within the Punjab Assembly.

Having completed a two-day physical remand, Elahi, currently detained in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, appeared before the court of Judicial Magistrate Aamir Raza. The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) officials urged the court to extend the physical remand by 10 days to conclude the investigations.

Elahi’s initial arrest on June 1 was in connection with a Rs70 million graft case linked to the misappropriation of development funds assigned to the Gujrat district. Since then, the former Punjab chief minister has been released multiple times only to be promptly re-arrested in various cases.

At the beginning of the day’s proceedings, the ACE’s lawyer informed the court of the necessity to recover the suspect’s mobile phone. He emphasized that Rs4.1 million had been seized from Elahi’s residence, underlining the need for further investigation.

On the other hand, Elahi’s counsel contended that the interim government was targeting his client with false and groundless allegations. “The government is subjecting [Elahi] to political victimization by repeatedly arresting him in baseless cases,” he emphasized.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the magistrate dismissed the ACE’s plea and ordered Elahi’s confinement for a 14-day judicial remand.

The Case of Illegal Recruitment According to an ACE spokesperson, Elahi had made 12 unauthorized appointments to grade 17 positions within the Punjab Assembly, manipulating records for the recruitment process. “The appointments were facilitated through fraudulent testing services,” the spokesperson disclosed.

The investigation by the ACE uncovered evidence of counterfeit appointments in the Punjab Assembly, leading to the arrest of Secretary Rai Mumtaz Hussain in connection with the case. “Rai Mumtaz was involved in the fraudulent recruitment process with Parvez Elahi,” the spokesperson revealed.