LHC grants bail to Bhatti in Punjab PA illegal recruitment case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted bail to Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the former principal secretary to the chief minister of Punjab, in the Punjab Assembly illegal recruitment case.

Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmad announced a reserved verdict on the post-arrest bail petition filed by Muhammad Khan Bhatti. The court had reserved the verdict upon the completion of arguments by the parties a day earlier. In his final arguments, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the allegations against his client were baseless as no evidence was available.

He submitted that the case was registered with a delay of two years and pleaded with the court to grant the benefit of bail to his client.

However, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab’s prosecutor opposed the bail and requested the court for its dismissal.

The ACE Punjab had registered the case against the former chief minister of Punjab, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, Muhammad Khan Bhatti, and others on charges of recruiting 12 Grade-17 officers in the Punjab Assembly against merit after receiving kickbacks. Allegedly, qualified candidates were denied positions while those who had not taken exams were appointed. It is pertinent to mention here that the LHC had already granted bail to Parvez Elahi in the recruitment case on May 21.