LHC orders removing Elahi, family names from PCL

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the authorities concerned to remove the names of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi and his family members from the passport control list (PCL).

After hearing the arguments of the lawyers of the litigants, the court issued orders to remove the names of Parvez Elahi, his son Rasikh Elahi and daughter-in-law Zara Elahi from the PCL. The former Punjab chief minister walked free from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail following months-long incarceration on May 21 this year after the province’s top court approved his bail plea in the Punjab Assembly illegal recruitment case.

Elahi was among dozens of PTI leaders who were arrested following a crackdown on the opposition party in the aftermath of the May 9 incidents. The May 9 events refer to the violent protests that broke out in many parts of the country following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest in a corruption case. The riots saw attacks on public and private properties, including military installations, with the army declaring May 9 as a “Black Chapter” in the country’s history.

On June 1, 2023, the former Punjab chief minister was arrested outside his residence in a corruption case and was released on bail in May this year. According to the details provided by Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Elahi made 12 illegal recruitments in the Punjab Assembly for grade 17 positions.The candidates were recruited in the provincial assembly by altering records. “The illegal recruitments were made through fake testing services,” a spokesperson for the ACE had said following Elahi’s arrest last year.

He had said that the investigation by the ACE proved that fake recruitments were made in the Punjab Assembly, adding that the anti-corruption had also arrested Secretary Rai Mumtaz Hussain in connection with this case on the basis of evidence. “Rai Mumtaz was involved in a fake recruiting process with Parvez Elahi,” he said.