Parvez Elahi sent to prison on 14-day judicial remand

Parvez Elahi was sent to prison on 14-day judicial remand on Sunday.

The former Punjab chief minister was presented before an anti-corruption court in Lahore in tight security.

The court rejected the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment’s (ACE) plea seeking physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in the Punjab Assembly illegal recruitment case.

Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk ordered sending the former Punjab chief minister to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

In the order, the court observed that the ACE sought Elahi’s 14-day physical remand “for completion of the investigation and recovery as the accused persons are specially nominated in the FIR (first information report)”.

It added that the court was told that Elahi’s mobile phone was needed for forensic analysis and “bribery of Rs15 million is to be recovered from his possession, which he had taken being speaker of the [Punjab] Assembly for appointments on grade-17 posts.

“Moreover the forged documents are also to be recovered from his possession.”

The court in the order observed that perusal of the record “reveals that even if the whole FIR be treated as the gospel of truth, it is mentioned there that the departmental selection committee presided over by the present accused, Parvez Elahi, on Aug 9, 2021, committed forgery with written exams, declared successful candidates failed and for ulterior motives, recruited the failed candidates in BS-17 in the Assembly Secretariat and caused colossal loss to the government exchequer”.

The order stated, “There is no denying of the fact that all the recruited candidates are still working in BS-17 in the Assembly Secretariat till today and no action has been taken against them. Not even a single affectee except the present complainant approached the ACE for registration of an FIR against the departmental selection committee.”

With regards to the said complainant, the court observed, “He has not filed any application at any forum against the accused persons for tampering with his result despite a lapse of two years [following] the date of appointment.

“It is interesting to mention here that a lot of jobs were advertised through advertisement, including the present post, from [that of the] secretary to kitchen attendant but none of the aggrieved persons except the present aggrieved person, namely Usman Ghani, approached the ACE, Lahore for his grievance.”

Parvez Elahi was taken into custody by ACE officials for allegedly making illegal appointments in Punjab Assembly a day earlier.

According to an ACE spokesperson, the case of the illegal appointments alleges that Elahi recruited 12 Grade-17 officers in the Punjab Assembly against merit.

“He got changed the results of these candidates belonging to Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin. We have collected evidence and also arrested Secretary Punjab Assembly Rai Mumtaz Hussain in this regard,” the source said.