LAHORE: Two judges of the Lahore High Court on Thursday recused themselves from an appeal of the Punjab government challenging a decision of a special court imposing fine on the Punjab secretary for home, the inspectors general of the police and the prisons for not presenting former chief minister Parvez Elahi in court.

The government filed the appeal through the advocate general office, which was fixed before Justice Shujaat Ali Khan first. However, Justice Khan recused himself from the appeal citing personal reasons.

Later, the registrar office fixed the government’s appeal before Justice Farooq Haider, who also refused to hear it for personal reasons.

The judge returned the appeal to the chief justice with a request to place it before any other judge for hearing.

The other day, special court’s judge Bakht Fakhar Bahzad had taken exception to the shifting of Mr Elahi from Lahore to Rawalpindi jail without the court’s permission and issued show-cause notices to the secretary for home, the inspectors general of the police and the prisons.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on each officer in addition to an order for the attachment of their salaries.

The judge was hearing a money laundering case against Elahi wherein he is on judicial remand.

The police had told the judge that the superintendent of Adiala Jail had refused to hand over the custody of Elahi due to his detention orders under the Maintenance of Public Order.

The FIA had registered a money laundering case against Parvez Elahi, his son Moonis Elahi and others.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2023