LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday accepted a plea bargain of a co-suspect of former chief minister Parvez Elahi in a reference of receiving kickbacks in development funds for Gujrat division.

NAB Prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua told the court that suspect Habib Qasim, a sub-engineer, agreed to a plea bargain of Rs6.7 million with the prosecution. He said the NAB chairman approved the plea bargain of the suspect.

He pointed out that the suspect had also deposited 40 per cent of the total amount in the account of the bureau, while the remainder would be paid later.

The prosecutor said the bureau would not oppose the release of the suspect on bail.

Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani approved the plea bargain and ordered the release of the suspect.

The judge once again delayed the indictment of Mr Elahi and other suspects of the reference due to the absence of the former.

The judge was informed that the doctors at Adiala Jail had advised the former chief minister against a long travel from Rawalpindi to Lahore due to his medical condition.

The judge adjourned the hearing till May 9.

The NAB alleged that Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the principal secretary to then chief minister Parvez Elahi, manoeuvred the award of contracts in favour of blue-eyed contractors in connivance with other suspects, including the officials of government departments.

It said the suspect released full payment to the contractors even before the commencement of construction work only to receive kickbacks.

The bureau alleged that money from the corruption committed by Bhatti had been transferred into the bank accounts of Mr Elahi and his son, Moonis Elahi.

Separately, a special court also deferred the indictment of Mr Elahi and other suspects in a case of illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) registered the case alleging illegal appointments of BS-17 posts were made in the provincial assembly when Mr Parvez Elahi was the chief minister and Mr Bhatti was his principal secretary.

It said favourite candidates were appointed to the posts despite being declared failed in the written examination.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024