LAHORE: The Accountability Court (AC) Lahore on Tuesday indicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President and former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi in a case related to alleged corruption in development projects.
Accountability Court judge Zubair Shahzad Kayani framed the charges against the former chief minister of Punjab, who pleaded not guilty.
The judge has summoned witnesses to record statement in the next hearing on January 21 while Pervaiz Elahi signed the charge-sheet.
On Tuesday, Judge Zubair Shahzad Kayani resumed hearing the case, with lawyer Waris Ali Janjua representing the NAB and advocate Amjad Pervaiz appearing on behalf of Elahi.
During the hearing, Ch Pervaiz Elahi’s lawyer said his client pleaded not guilty to the charges, informing the court that his client had arrived at the court premises. However, he could not get out of the car due to health issues, adding that he was technically on the premises of the court, he added.
“We want to submit a request for complete exemption from court appearances for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi,” the counsel said, adding his client wanted “to take the case forward now, there will be no problem from our side in the case”.
In previous hearing, the judge approved a petition filed by the PTI leader seeking one-day exemption from appearance in court and had summoned him for framing charges on Jan 7.
The court has already framed charges against Muhammad Khan Bhatti, Khalid Mahmood Chhatta, Asif Mahmood, Naeem Iqbal, Muhammad Asghar, and Asad Ali in the case.
In December 2023, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference in Lahore’s accountability court against Pervaiz Elahi, his son Moonis, and 11 others, alleging the receipt of Rs1.23 billion in bribe and kickbacks in the contracts of development project in Gujrat.
The father-son duo has been identified as prime suspects, who, according to the reference, have allegedly received the highest kickbacks among all others, totalling Rs744 million.
Initially taken into custody on June 1 2023, Elahi has faced a series of releases and re-arrests, remaining in detention ever since.
The legal challenges coincided with the state’s crackdown on the PTI that followed the violent May 9 protests that saw important government and military installations vandalised.
