ATC judge hands over Elahi to ACE on transit remand

ISLAMABAD. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain Wednesday handed over former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on transit remand. The court heard a plea, submitted by the ACE, seeking transit remand of former Punjab chief minister. The judge accepted the plea and handed over the PTI president to the ACE.

The anti-corruption officials shifted Elahi from Adiala jail to Lahore. Parvez Elahi was not produced in the ATC for hearing. In a statement, Elahi’s lawyer Sardar Abdur Razzaq Advocate said the ACE Lahore was granted transit remand without production of his client in court. Citing the Criminal Code, the lawyer said an accused could not be remanded without being produced in court.

“Elahi is being illegally transferred to Lahore in another case,” he claimed. Parvez Elahi has been arrested and detained repeatedly since the May 9 riots. Earlier in October, it was reported that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had ‘finalised’ corruption reference against six including Parvez Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi. They, along with Muhammad Khan Bhatti and others, had been accused of taking kickbacks in development projects worth Rs72 billion announced for Gujrat.