Court extends Pervaiz Elahi remand till Aug 29

LAHORE: An accountability court extended the remand of PTI President Pervaiz Elahi till August 29 in a case related to awarding illegal contracts.

The former chief minister appeared in court as Judge Zubair Shahzad Kayani conducted hearing. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) requested the PTI leader’s physical remand be extended by another 14 days.  The court gave a remand extension till August 29.

Elahi’s counsel, Amjad Pervez, protested and said that the matter of Elahi’s repeated arrests is currently pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the Supreme Court (SC).

The lawyer further stated that if after hearing the case, the court approves his remand then they will have no objection.

The counsel further added that his client suffers from a back ailment and requested the court to allow the former chief minister’s personal doctor to perform a check-up.

During the hearing, Elahi informed the court that he has swollen knees and is not feeling well. He also requested for his personal doctor to be allowed and complained being only allowed one visit a week with his family.

NAB arrested the PTI leader last Monday from outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail minutes after he stepped out of the prison at the conclusion of his 30-day detention period.

The PTI president was first arrested by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) with the help of Punjab Police in Lahore on June 1. He has since been released and rearrested multiple times.

NAB on June 9 launched formal investigations against former Punjab CM Parvez Elahi, former provincial minister Ali Afzal Sahi and Elahi’s son Moonis Elahi. The anti-corruption watchdog alleged that the accused received over Rs1 billion in illicit kickbacks in 226 contracts.