The Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment on Saturday informed a Lahore district and sessions court that it had allegedly recovered Rs4.1 million from the house of PTI President Parvez Elahi in a case pertaining to illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.
Elahi’s counsel Advocate Amir Saeed Rawn, on the other hand, disputed the claim, terming it a “bogus recovery”.
Last month, the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment arrested Elahi on charges of appointing Muhammad Khan Bhatti as his principal secretary during his tenure as the chief minister. It alleged that Bhatti’s appointment was not in accordance with the law.
Saturday, Elahi was presented before the court of Judicial Magistrate Imran Abid.
ACE’s investigating officer Muhammad Sabtain told the court that they took Elahi to his residence on Zahoor Elahi Road, where a sum of Rs4.1 million was allegedly retrieved from his bedroom, situated adjacent to a garage on the left side.
The officer emphasised that the recovery was made with Elahi’s confirmation, as he was present during the search at his house.
However, countering the ACE’s assertions, Elahi insisted that he had been in jail throughout the night and had not been taken anywhere. He stated, “I was asleep, and I have no knowledge of where they supposedly found the money.” “It was only here in jail that I learned about the alleged recovery,” Elahi conveyed to the court.
Elahi claimed that the raiding officers had ulterior motives, seeking to secure their own positions.
Meanwhile, a local court in Lahore on Saturday approved a two-day extension in the physical remand of Parvez Elahi, who remains incarcerated in Adiala jail, in the case pertaining to illegal appointments. The former Punjab chief minister had been sent to prison after the court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days in the case on September 19.
