LAHORE: An anti-corruption court in Lahore on Thursday awarded MPA Dost Muhammad Mazari post-arrest release in a case concerning the alleged wrongful allotment of 2,500 kanals in Rajanpur.

Advocate Farhad Ali Shah for Mazari argued in front of the judge that his client had been arrested due to political considerations. He said the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) arrested Mazari as part of an investigation that had been put on hold by the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court.

According to him, the ACE’s actions constituted contempt of court. He said the prosecution accused the petitioner of stealing the land record, whereas all the record was available with the ACE.

According to him, the Rojhan assistant commissioner created a false report against the petitioner in the past. The Rajanpur deputy commissioner, he claimed, denied the report.

ACE prosecutor Muhammad Dar contested the bail, saying that incriminating evidence was available against the petitioner. He stated that the petitioner was involved in the illegal occupation of public property. Subject to the presentation of two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each, presiding judge Khalid Mahmood Bhatti granted Mazari’s request for bail.

Mr Mazari was taken into custody by the ACE after his arrest on Oct 29 and remained there until a judge placed him on judicial remand on Nov 4.

Following Usman Buzdar’s departure, Mr. Mazari, the deputy speaker, presided over the first election for Punjab’s chief minister, in which incumbent Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was beaten by Hamza Shehbaz. When Mr Elahi was elected chief minister later on, Mr Mazari was voted out.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2022