LAHORE: A Special Court (Central-I) on Saturday reserved its verdict on an application of PTI President Parvez Elahi, seeking his acquittal in a money laundering case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Judge Arif Khan Niazi heard the plea with Advocate Amir Saeed Rawn, the counsel for Mr Elahi, concluding his arguments.

The lawyer argued that his client’s all assets were duly declared and on the record of the tax authorities. He pointed out that Mr Elahi had no connection with the companies whose accounts were being labeled as suspicious, adding that his client was neither a director nor a shareholder in them. He said the prosecution had failed to produce any evidence of corruption or money laundering against his client. He pointed out that no witness had testified that Mr Elahi ever accepted a bribe or committed misuse of authority.

The defense counsel argued that there was no increase in the assets of Mr Elahi, but his wife’s.

The judge asked the counsel about the growth in assets of Elahi’s wife.

The counsel stated that Mr Elahi’s wife was a shareholder in several family-owned companies and had her own independent sources of income. Therefore, he said, the rise in her wealth could not be attributed to Mr Elahi.

The counsel maintained that if the allegations could not be established at this stage, they would not stand during the trial either. He said continuing the trial proceedings would only waste the court’s time. He asked the court to allow the application and acquit the applicant.

FIA Special Prosecutor Ayaz Butt opposed the acquittal plea, asking the court to dismiss it and resume the trial as witnesses were available. He argued that during his tenure as the Punjab Assembly speaker and later as chief minister, Mr Elahi’s assets had increased significantly. He alleged that the suspect had committed misuse of authority and corruption.

The prosecutor maintained that Mr Elahi had failed to explain the source of Rs200m, while the FIA was already probing offshore companies linked to the suspect and his son, Moonis Elahi. He argued that evidence of money laundering existed and that the trial should proceed.

After hearing both sides, the judge reserved the verdict on the acquittal application. The judge said the decision would be announced on Oct 25.

Earlier, the judge had accepted Mr Elahi’s request for exemption from personal appearance for one hearing.

In this case, the FIA alleged that the sons and the daughters-in-law of Elahi had committed money laundering through a low cadre employee of the Punjab Assembly. It said the suspects used bank accounts of Qaiser Iqbal Bhatti, a peon of the assembly, to launder money.

The agency said unexplained transactions of millions of rupees had been traced in the accounts of the peon and the children of Elahi. It alleged that the assets of the peon had been found beyond his known sources of income. The FIA said the inquiry in question had no relation with any previous probe as it had been initiated against a government servant, the assembly`s peon.

Moonis has been declared a proclaimed offender in the case.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025