An accountability court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a corruption reference related to Gujrat development projects against former chief minister Punjab, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, and others till October 2.
Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani conducted the proceedings, during which the former principal secretary to the chief minister, Muhammad Khan Bhatti, was produced. The other co-accused also appeared and marked their attendance.
At the start of the proceedings, the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua informed the court that, as per its order, copies of the statements of 10 witnesses had been provided to all the accused, including Parvez Elahi. He then requested that the accused be indicted in the upcoming hearing.
However, Parvez Elahi’s lawyer, Amjad Pervez , argued that the allegations against his client relate to the misuse of authority, and following recent amendments to NAB laws, the case no longer falls under the court’s jurisdiction. He indicated that he would present arguments on this point at the next hearing.
He further submitted an exemption application and requested the court to exempt his client from personal appearance for one day.
Subsequently, the court allowed the application and exempted Parvez Elahi from personal appearance for one day. The court adjourned further proceedings till October 2.
The NAB had accused Parvez Elahi and Moonis Elahi of receiving over Rs 1 billion as kickbacks through intermediaries in more than 200 development projects in the Gujrat district during his second term as chief minister of Punjab. It is worth mentioning that Moonis Elahi has already been declared a proclaimed offender in the case due to his continuous absence.
