Muhammad Khan Bhatti granted bail in illegal recruitment case

Bhatti's counsel claims that the case was driven by political vendetta

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted former secretary of the Punjab Assembly Muhammad Khan Bhatti on Tuesday bail in the case of alleged illegal recruitment in the provincial assembly.

Justice Sultan Tanveer announced the reserved verdict and ordered Bhatti’s release.

As the hearing commenced, the petitioner's lawyer told the court that former Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi and his principal secretary Bhatti were implicated in the bogus case of illegal recruitment in the Punjab Assembly.

He added that there is no evidence of forgery against the accused on record stating the case was made for political revenge.

Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had registered a case against Elahi and Bhatti for illegal recruitments in the Punjab Assembly.

The LHC on May 21 approved Elahi’s bail application in the same case and ordered his release from Kot Lakhpat Jail.

On April 4 2023, Bhatti was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab, shortly after he was released on bail in a separate case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The ex-principal secretary of the former Punjab chief minister had been awarded bail in the FIA case, but the ACE team was waiting outside the jail to arrest him in another case.

ACE officials told The Express Tribune that the arrest has been carried out on charges of alleged corruption and receiving kickbacks for awarding a road construction project worth Rs178 million in Mandi Bahauddin.