LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday again sent former chief minister Parvez Elahi to judicial lockup after the Lahore High Court (LHC) suspended a sessions court’s order that allowed the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to obtain physical remand of the politician in a case of illegal appointments made in the Punjab Assembly.

The other day, an additional district and sessions judge set aside a decision of the judicial magistrate about denial of physical remand of Elahi to the ACE and his acquittal in the case.

The sessions judge directed the ACE to produce Elahi before the magistrate to seek physical remand for investigation.

As ordered by the sessions judge, the ACE produced Elahi before Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk with a request of 14-day physical remand for completion of the investigation and recovery of his personal mobile phone besides alleged forged documents used in the offence.

Magistrate again sends him to judicial lock-up

However, a counsel for Elahi told the magistrate that the LHC had suspended the other day’s order of the sessions court. He also presented a copy of the order.

At this, the magistrate sent Elahi to jail on judicial remand again and directed the ACE to produce him on June 27 before the court concerned.

Mr Elahi told the magistrate that his medical tests had not been conducted properly and he had not been given proper treatment in the jail.

The magistrate ordered the superintendent of the district jail to conduct all medical tests of the suspect, provide him proper treatment and submit a report within three days.

In a brief conversation with the reporters, PTI Central President Parvez Elahi said he had been kept in a small cell of the jail with no basic facilities. He said inadequate medical facilities had been provided to him when he was taken to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) with a cardiac complaint.

He said he had been denied his right to see family members in the jail.

Asked whether he was also going to hold a press conference to quit the PTI, the former chief minister said: “How can I hold a press conference when I have not been allowed to see anyone.”

“This is my first interaction with the media and that too in the court,” he told reporters.

According to the ACE, the case of illegal appointments alleged that Elahi recruited 12 Grade-17 officers in the Punjab Assembly against merit. It said all the appointed candidates were from Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin, the political constituencies of the Chaudhrys.

LHC: Justice Waheed Khan of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday suspended a decision of the sessions court that allowed the ACE to produce former chief minister Parvez Elahi before a judicial magistrate to seek his physical remand.

The judge passed the order on a petition of Elahi filed through Lahore High Court Bar Association President Chaudhry Ishtiaq A. Khan.

After suspending the order of the sessions court, the judge issued notices to the respondents for June 27.

Separately, Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun heard an appeal of the ACE challenging an order of a Gujranwala judicial magistrate denying physical remand of Elahi in another corruption case.

The judge issued a notice to Elahi for submission of his reply by June 22.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2023