Elahi's arrest warrants cancelled

An accountability court in Rawalpindi on Wednesday cancelled the arrest warrants issued for former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, while also reserving its decision on his application for exemption from personal appearances.

Elahi has also formally challenged the legal validity of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference filed against him.

The court accepted the petition challenging the reference for hearing and directed the NAB to submit a detailed reply. The hearing of the case has been adjourned till July 17.

In the petition challenging the reference, Elahi's legal team argued that the document neither bears the NAB chairman's signature nor is it dated. The lawyers requested that the reference be dismissed altogether rather than taken to trial.

Elahi appeared in court in person during the hearing of the reference involving 26 co-accused, related to the alleged illegal allotment of government forest land in Takht Pari.

The legal team representing Elahi, advocates Qazi Misbah and Sardar Abdul Razzaq, completed their arguments on his plea for exemption from appearance.

Arguing on the admissibility of the reference, Advocate Qazi Misbah said that the document lacked both the NAB chairman's signature and a date, rendering it legally untenable and inadmissible.

However, NAB Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar contested the claim, contending that the signature was indeed present. In response, the defence counsel demanded that the signature be shown, maintaining that no such signature or date exists on the document.

The defence also cited legal precedents in support of the exemption request and submitted medical reports, asserting that due to Elahi's deteriorating health, it was not feasible for him to appear at every hearing. The reports state that Elahi has suffered broken ribs and can only sit with physical support during court proceedings.

The counsel further argued that under Supreme Court guidance, an accused's statement may be recorded via video link.

When asked by the judge to approach the rostrum, Elahi reiterated, "My medical report is before you. Given my condition, I cannot attend every hearing. Kindly consider my health or grant me three weeks' relief."

The defence maintained that Elahi's condition requires that he be seated with back support and that attending court each time would be extremely difficult.

The prosecution, however, opposed both the exemption request and the plea for a three-week reprieve, arguing that the accused should appear at the next hearing, after which the court could reconsider his request.

The court directed Elahi to ensure his appearance at the next hearing, stating, "You must appear at the next date; we will decide what to do afterwards".