NICL land scam: Moonis to remain in FIA custody for 4 days
A judicial magistrate extends the physical remand of Moonis Elahi.
LAHORE:
A judicial magistrate extended the physical remand of Moonis Elahi, the son of onetime Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, till March 28 on Thursday after he was produced in a local court in connection with the National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) land scam case.
Officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced Moonis before the court after the lapse of his previous remand.
Muhammad Iqbal Bhatti, who appeared on behalf of Moonis, argued before the judge that his client was innocent and he was being politically victimised. He said that he had been arrested without any case being registered against him, adding that his name was not even on the FIR which is cited as the basis of his arrest.
FIA’s cousel countered by saying that the accused was involved in a white-collar crime and the investigation of such cases took a long time, necessitating an extension of his remand.
The court allowed the FIA authorities to keep the accused for four more days.
Moonis Elahi was brought to the court amid tight security. More than 100 PML-Q workers were inside the court premises chanting slogans against the government.
During the previous hearing, Moonis’s counsel had alleged that FIA’s Additional Director-General Zafar Qureshi had implicated Moonis in the NICL scam to settle a personal score.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2011.
A judicial magistrate extended the physical remand of Moonis Elahi, the son of onetime Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, till March 28 on Thursday after he was produced in a local court in connection with the National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) land scam case.
Officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced Moonis before the court after the lapse of his previous remand.
Muhammad Iqbal Bhatti, who appeared on behalf of Moonis, argued before the judge that his client was innocent and he was being politically victimised. He said that he had been arrested without any case being registered against him, adding that his name was not even on the FIR which is cited as the basis of his arrest.
FIA’s cousel countered by saying that the accused was involved in a white-collar crime and the investigation of such cases took a long time, necessitating an extension of his remand.
The court allowed the FIA authorities to keep the accused for four more days.
Moonis Elahi was brought to the court amid tight security. More than 100 PML-Q workers were inside the court premises chanting slogans against the government.
During the previous hearing, Moonis’s counsel had alleged that FIA’s Additional Director-General Zafar Qureshi had implicated Moonis in the NICL scam to settle a personal score.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2011.