Process to declare Moonis PO starts

A trial court in Punjab’s provincial capital has started the process of declaring Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Moonis Elahi a proclaimed offender (PO) in view of his failure to appear in the court in connection with a money laundering case.

Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk initiated the proceeding on Saturday under Section 87 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after he termed the report and statement of a process server as genuine. The process server serves legal documents to a defendant or an individual involved in a court proceeding.

The process server in a statement said a non-bailable arrest warrant of the accused had been assigned to him and that he went to the address of the accused in order to execute it.

“I tried my level best to execute the non-bailable warrant...but the accused concealed himself deliberately in order to avoid the warrant," he said.

The court directed the relevant officials to provide it with the former federal minister's travel information and residential address as well as details about his bank accounts, passport and computerized national identity card (CNIC).  Following the court order, the process of freezing Elahi's CNIC, passport, bank accounts and properties was initiated.

Earlier, an application had been moved in the court, requesting it to declare Moonis a PO. The court had earlier issued a non-bailable warrant for the accused.

Section 87 (1) of the PPC provides that if any court has reason to believe after taking evidence that any person against whom a warrant has been issued by it has absconded or is concealing himself so that such warrant cannot be executed, such court may publish a written proclamation.

The proclamation requires that person to appear at a specified place and time before the court not less than thirty days from the date of publication of such proclamation.

Under Section 88 of the Code, the property of person absconding is attached. The court issuing a proclamation under Section 87 may at any time order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable or both, belonging to the proclaimed person.

Last year, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a money laundering case against Moonis and others in a case pertaining to his alleged involvement in a scam to the tune of Rs720 million.

The investigation agency also arrested two of Moonis's close associates, Nawaz Bhatti and Mazhar Iqbal, on charges that these men facilitated the former minister in embezzling money.

The FIA registered a case against Moonis on June 11 under Sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention), 109 (punishment for abetment), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a genuine forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and Section 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.

The PTI leader is facing two cases of money laundering. The Anti-Corruption Circle Punjab has also filed a case against four suspects including Moonis Elahi and submitted a challan to a court.Talking to the Express Tribune, Elahi’s counsel Advocate Amir Saeed Rawn said the FIA had nominated his client in a fake case based on a concocted FIR.

“Moonis is out of the country but the FIA seems to be in hurry to get him declared a proclaimed offender in a fake case,” the counsel added.