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The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi and also barred authorities from re-arresting him in any other case.
Hearing a petition filed by Elahi against his arrest by NAB in an alleged corruption case, Justice Amjad Rafiq questioned why the former Punjab chief minister had not been presented in court despite court orders. In response, the NAB prosecutor claimed the accountability watchdog had not been provided security for Elahi, adding the Punjab government had informed it of threats to the accused’s life. The prosecutor then said NAB was ready to present Elahi without security “but if something happens who will be responsible?”
To this, Elahi’s lawyer said he could provide a bulletproof vehicle for the production of the PTI leader. The court then ordered the anti-graft body to present the PTI president within an hour and warned that it would issue arrest warrants for the Punjab director-general of NAB if it failed to comply with the orders. After Elahi was presented in court, Justice Rafiq ordered his release and barred authorities from arresting him in any other case.
Elahi has been detained in various cases since June 1, being released on court orders and re-arrested several times. The NAB case that saw his most recent arrest pertains to alleged kickbacks for the reward of contracts of roadways in Gujrat.
Speaking with journalists after his release, Elahi blamed the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) for the state of the economy and lamented that he had no idea what was happening in the country, as he had been in jail.