An anti-corruption court in Lahore 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 recruitments case.
Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk sent the former Punjab chief minister to jail on a 14-day judicial remand, Geo news reports.
The former Punjab chief minister — who was taken into custody by ACE officials for allegedly making illegal appointments in Punjab Assembly — was presented in the Lahore court amid strict security earlier today.
The Punjab ACE arrested the former chief minister for a third time on Saturday, after a local court in Gujranwala granted him relief in two corruption cases, Geo news reports.
Today, the ACE officials produced Elahi in a district kacheri court in the provincial capital, while Rana Intezar, who is the president of the Lahore Bar Association, represented him in the case.
Speaking to reporters in the district kacheri, Elahi said it doesn’t matter how many cases are booked against him. “Even if ten or hundred cases are booked, it doesn’t matter.”
Addressing PTI leaders, workers and supporters, the former Punjab chief minister urged fighting with “absolute courage” and told them not to worry at all.
“You are at the forefront of the war for rights, truth, religion, and Pakistan. Hang in there and fight on,” Elahi said.
In his bid to refute the allegations against him in the cases, the PTI president said that the government will gain nothing out of their lies.
