LAHORE: Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and former chief minister of Punjab, has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) to challenge his preventive detention under the colonial-era Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
The plea was filed by Elahi’s lawyer, Amir Saeed Rawn, who argued that his client is being unfairly targeted as part of a political vendetta.
Elahi’s lawyer emphasized that his client has been granted bail in all previous cases and has consistently proven his innocence.
Additionally, the court has also granted protective bail to Elahi in a separate terrorism-related case. The petitioner hopes that the high court will suspend the detention orders against Elahi with the filing of this application.
The deputy commissioner of Lahore issued a 30-day detention order for Elahi under Section 3 of the MPO, following a written request by police alleging his involvement in disturbing the peace related to three cases.
The order, issued late at night, stated that Elahi was an “active member and firebrand speaker” of the opposition party, as reported by Lahore police and the district intelligence branch.
According to the order, his detainment is based on concerns that he and his followers may cause unrest, disturb public peace and tranquility, provoke illegal actions, and damage public and private properties.
The order also mentioned the potential of Elahi replicating the May 9 mayhem and listed previous first information reports (FIRs) against him, referring to him as a “criminal record holder.”
Earlier, Elahi was arrested on June 1 in connection with a corruption case but was released the following day. However, he was subsequently arrested in another case.
Recently, a banking crimes court ordered his release in a money laundering case, but he remained in custody as a terrorism-related case had been registered against him.
