Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, President of PTI, faced yet another arrest on Sunday, immediately after a Lahore anti-corruption court discharged him in a graft case related to the Lahore Master Plan 2050.
Elahi had been re-arrested on charges related to terrorism and was being transferred to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, pakprofile.com learnt. Elahi is one of several PTI leaders and workers who have been arrested in the wake of a government crackdown on PTI leadership following the violent riots that erupted in the country after Imran Khan’s initial arrest on May 9th.
He was presented in court following his arrest by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in Rawalpindi yesterday. According to one of the lawyers, Sardar Abdul Razzaq, this marks the 12th time Elahi has been detained since June 1st, following the events of May 9th.
The court had previously reserved its decision on the ACE’s request and later dismissed the case against Elahi, resulting in his discharge.
An anti-corruption court in Lahore has acquitted PTI President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Sunday in a corruption case related to the Lahore Master Plan 2050. The court rejected the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment’s (ACE) request for his physical remand, as confirmed by Rana Intezar Hussain, Elahi’s lawyer.
Elahi had been brought to court following his arrest in Rawalpindi yesterday, marking the 12th time the PTI leader had been detained since June 1, following the May 9 incident.
During the hearing, Elahi’s lawyer, Hussain, stated that “anti-corruption officials had requested Elahi’s physical remand, which we vehemently opposed.”
Elahi is among several PTI leaders and workers arrested in response to the government’s crackdown on PTI leadership following the violent protests that erupted in the country after Imran Khan’s initial arrest on May 9.
Provincial anti-corruption authorities took Elahi into custody from Adiala Jail in the garrison city, where he was being held in connection with a riots case.
Elahi was arrested in relation to a case concerning the Lahore Master Plan 2050, facing charges under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including abetment, criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and using forged documents, as well as Section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947.
According to the FIR, in March 2021, then-CM Elahi allegedly misused his authority and collaborated with Lahore Development Authority Director Amir Ahmed Khan to illicitly modify the Lahore Master Plan 2050, incorporating Kotli Rai Abu Bakar, an area in Kasur district. This alteration significantly increased the value of land owned by Elahi’s sons, Moonis Elahi and Rasikh Elahi, in Kotli Rai Abu Bakar, as per the FIR’s allegations.
Following his arrest, Elahi was presented in an Islamabad court, which granted the ACE a one-day transit remand to produce him in the relevant anti-corruption court in Lahore.
