ACE's claim of recovering bribe money baffles Elahi

Magisterial court remands PTI chief in the anti-corruption agency's custody for two more days

LAHORE:

Punjab’s anti-corruption watchdog on Saturday claimed that it had recovered over Rs4.1 million from the residence of Parvez Elahi, money that the PTI leader had allegedly received as a bribe from aspirants of different posts at the Punjab Assembly during his term as the legislature’s speaker.

This claim, made by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in the court of Judicial Magistrate Imran Abid, apparently took Elahi by surprise, who has been facing around a dozen court cases since June.

Two days earlier, the magistrate had remanded the PTI central president in the ACE’s custody for two days for further investigation into the illegal hiring case.

On Saturday, the lawyer representing the anti-corruption agency apprised the court that, on the indication of Elahi, the ACE had managed to recover Rs4.1 million from a cupboard in the politician’s bedroom.

The lawyer argued that the ACE now wanted to recover some documentary evidence still in Elahi’s possession. He requested the court to remand the PTI leader in the ACE’s custody for another 12 days.

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Elahi’s counsel, Amjad Pervaiz, took exception to the ACE’s claim, asking why the ACE did not disclose the said recovery while seeking the PTI leader’s custody on Thursday.

He asked whether Elahi was engaged in corruption for just Rs4.1 million. He also asked when the ACE raided the former CM’s residence to make the recovery. When the judicial magistrate stated that these details were mentioned in Zimni, the police diary, Pervaiz sought the judge’s permission to read out the document.

He argued that the ACE allegedly recovered the amount from a cupboard in Elahi's bedroom, but the Zimni neither mentioned the police’s arrival or departure time.

The lawyer declared the ACE’s claim as bogus, requesting the court to discharge the case.

The ACE’s counsel, however, noted that the court could look into all alleged irregularities in the recovery of the alleged bribe money.

Talking with reference to the recruitment case, the former CM’s counsel said eligible candidates were hired in the Punjab Assembly by following the due process. Pervaiz argued that the ACE received “written files from somewhere else” and that its officials only read them in courts.

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He asked if any candidate allegedly affected by the so-called illegal hiring had approached the police and registered any case against the PTI leader.

Elahi also took to the rostrum to express his astonishment at the ACE’s claim. “I am at a loss to understand from where this amount was recovered to establish my link with the corruption."

He said he served the nation as the Punjab Assembly speaker and then as the provincial chief minister and never did politics to mint money. “No one visited me yesterday night. I have come to know about the alleged recovery in the courtroom,” he said.

The court, however, accepted the ACE’s request and remanded Elahi in its custody for two more days. The judge also directed the anti-corruption agency to submit its investigation report at the next hearing.