Elahi remanded in NAB custody till Aug 21

An accountability court has remanded PTI President Parvez Elahi in the custody of the country’s top graft buster—the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)—for one week in connection with a case related to alleged award of illegal contracts during his second term as the Punjab chief minister.

On Tuesday, Elahi was presented in the court of Judge Zubair Shahzad Kayani amid heightened security. NAB had arrested the PTI leader a day earlier—on Monday—from outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail minutes after he stepped out of the prison at the conclusion of his 30-day detention period.

At the start of the hearing, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, Elahi’s counsel, requested the court to grant him five minutes to talk to his client. The court granted him the permission.

When the arguments started, NAB Special Prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua requested the court to remand the PTI leader in NAB custody for 14 days. He argued that four accused had already been arrested in connection with the case.

Read SC to hear Elahi’s bail plea on Aug 16

He said as Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi announced a development package of Rs72 billion for Gujrat division, which is also his native constituency. A list of over 200 projects was finalised and the projects were approved on a fast-track basis in violation of the rules and regulations, he claimed.

Janjua alleged that Elahi received kickbacks from contractors. He also released funds for the projects even before the commencement of work.  This was a violation of the law and NAB has strong evidence in this regard, he added.

Elahi’s counsel said the pleas against arrest of his clients were pending with the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court and, therefore, the court should remand Elahi in NAB’s custody till Monday. The NAB prosecutor, however, requested the court to remand the former Punjab CM in custody for 14 days.

After hearing detailed arguments of the parties, the court gave NAB the custody of the PTI leader till August 21. The judge directed the NAB officials to present him in the court at the next hearing.

The PTI president was first arrested arrested by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) with the help of Punjab Police in Lahore on June 1. He has since been released and rearrested multiple times.

NAB on June 9 launched formal investigations against former Punjab CM Parvez Elahi, former provincial minister Ali Afzal Sahi and Elahi’s son Moonis Elahi.

The anti-corruption watchdog alleged that the accused received over Rs1 billion in illicit kickbacks through intermediaries in 226 contracts.