From Abid Usman
Lahore: A local court in Lahore Tuesday ordered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s release on bail in the money laundering case of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against him.
The order was passed by a special court over the bail application of the former Punjab chief minister, who had been arrested by the FIA for alleged money laundering.
The court ordered Elahi to submit a surety bond of Rs500,000 against the bail.
Judge Aslam Gondal of the Banking Offenses Court issued the verdict and grilled the FIA for adopting a non-cooperative attitude.
FIA did not submit the record despite the court order, the judge stated.
The FIA had booked the former Punjab chief minister and his son on charges of money laundering and suspicious transactions on June 20.
He was taken into custody the next day, and was subsequently sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.
It may be noted that Elahi was initially arrested on June 1 in a graft case, amid a crackdown on PTI in the wake of May 9 protests. He was rearrested multiple times after this in different cases, including the two money laundering cases.
During the hearing of his bail plea in LHC, the PTI president had requested the court to be given bail like PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
