Lahore High Court orders release of Pervaiz Elahi

The Lahore High Court ordered the release of former Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Friday.

The court also ordered that Elahi should not be arrested in any other case.

The orders came in an appeal filed by Elahi against his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau.

Soon after the court ordered the release of the former chief minister of Punjab, officials of the Federal Investigation Agency arrived outside the court to rearrest Elahi in another case.

The officials of both institutions were involved in a tussle as the FIA officials were thrown out by the NAB officials after they entered the vehicle carrying the former CM of Punjab.

The NAB officials refused to let the investigation agency arrest Elahi after the court ordered his release and directed that he should not be arrested in any other case.

Speaking to the media after his release, Elahi declined to do a press conference saying that he is still standing with the PTI, “Did I spend four months inside for nothing?”

Earlier, Elahi was not produced in court when proceedings began in his appeal on Friday. When asked why he had not been presented by 10 am as assured by NAB, the prosecutor said that the government had refused to provide security.

In turn, the Punjab government’s lawyer said that they had not received the orders of the court. The lawyer added that the police were busy in operations against the katcha dacoits and could not be spared for security duty.

Justice Amjad Rafique rejected the reasons cited by the NAB prosecutor and told NAB to produce Elahi in court within one hour otherwise warrants would be issued for the bureau’s director general.

The advocate general then told the court that the government had no objection to presenting Elahi provided the court took responsibility.

Justice Rafique told the advocate general that his remarks amounted to ‘humiliating’ the court and making a joke out of a constitutional body.

The court then decided to take a break in proceedings and summon the district commissioner. However, when the proceedings resumed neihter the NAB prosecutor nor the advocate general appeared, depsite repeated summons. The court was forced to take another break.

NAB finally decided to present Elahi in court when hearing resumed at 12:15 pm. The court then granted him bail.

Pervaiz Elahi was arrested on June 1 outside his residence in Lahore with images of his arrest flashed across TV screens.

He has spent three months behind bars. He was initially kept in Camp Jail Lahore, then moved to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi and then to NAB’s Lahore office. He is accused of corruption in development funds allocated for Gujrat.