LHC grants Parvez Elahi protective bail till May 15

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi protective bail in an anti-corruption case registered against him and directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader to refer to the relevant court.

Elahi reached the high court accompanied by numerous party workers and lawyers. The former CM — who had managed to evade two attempts to arrest him at his residences in Lahore and Gujrat — appeared before Justice Asjad Javaid Ghural’s bench.

During the hearing, Elahi’s lawyer argued that cases were being filed against him on a “daily basis”.

The court responded: “If any new case is registered, file for the protective bail again.”

Earlier today, the court rejected Elahi’s request to stop the police from arresting him.

His plea was filed by his son Rasikh Elahi, against the police action on his house last week.

During the hearing, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar also issued notices to the inspector general of the Punjab Police and the director general Anti-Corruption Establishment.

The court also summoned the details of the cases registered against the former Punjab chief minister and adjourned the hearing till May 8.

Raid at home
Last night, police raided Elahi’s residence in Gujrat two days after they conducted a similar operation at his house in Lahore.

Kunjah House, the former CM’s residence in Gujrat, was searched by the police for a brief period, with the anti-corruption department — which was involved in the Lahore raid — denying any involvement.

In the Friday night raid, anti-corruption and police officials used an armoured vehicle to break open the main gate of the PTI president’s Gulberg residence and arrested 19 people, mostly his employees, from the house.

The former chief minister was also booked under terror charges for “attacking” the police during the late-night raid.

The federal government had distanced itself from the police raid and held the provincial authorities for the move.