In Rawalpindi, the Anti-Corruption Establishment of Punjab (ACE) tookChaudhry Parvez Elahi, former chief minister and President of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), into custody on Wednesday.
This action followed the approval of the ACE’s request for a transit remandby the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad. Notably, Chaudhry ParvezElahi was not presented in the ATC for the transit remand hearing.
Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain approved the request and granted a one-dayremand, after which Elahi was handed over to the ACE authorities.Subsequently, an anti-corruption team detained him at Adiala Jail andtransferred him to Lahore.
Initially, the ACE had sought custody of Elahi through a civil court.However, the civil court rejected the request, stating that the formerPunjab chief minister was already in custody and that the matter should bereferred to the ATC Islamabad. Elahi had been on judicial remand at AdialaJail in connection with the Judicial Complex attack case.
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Additionally, in the same case, the ATC issued perpetual arrest warrantsfor ten PTI leaders, including Murad Saeed, Omar Ayub, Ali Amin Gandapur,Shibli Faraz, Farrukh Habib, Hammad Azhar, Ali Nawaz Awan, Hassaan KhanNiazi, and Umar Sultan.
Judge Zulqarnain explained that these permanent arrest warrants were issueddue to the accused’s continuous absence from court proceedings, as they hadbeen declared proclaimed offenders, necessitating their arrest andappearance in court.