LAHORE: A special court for anti-corruption on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to former principal secretary to chief minister Muhammad Khan Bhatti in a new case of illegal appointments made in the Punjab Assembly.

Advocate Munir Hussain Bhatti, representing Bhatti, argued that the recruitments from BS 1 to BS 17 were made simultaneously. He said the trial for BS 17 appointments was already underway, and the defense maintained that the appointment process was unified, so there should have been only one FIR instead of multiple cases being registered for political purposes.

Opposing the bail, a prosecutor alleged that Bhatti and others appointed over 200 individuals in the Punjab Assembly against merit, favouring unqualified candidates from BS 1 to 16.

He said positions such as IT technicians and drivers were also allegedly filled unlawfully.

Judge Muhammad Faisal allowed bail to Bhatti and directed him to submit two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each.

Former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi has also been nominated as an accused and granted bail too in the FIR.

The Lahore High Court had on June 11 granted bail to Bhatti in the other case of illegal appointments made in the assembly on positions of BS-17.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2024