LHC summoned report from police on late-night raid at Parvez Elahi’s residence

LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Tuesday granted protective bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi until May 15, besides barring police from arresting the former Punjab chief minister.

Mr Elahi reached the Lahore High Court for bail in an attack case during the operation at his house. The former Punjab chief minister filed an application in court for protective bail in a case registered with the Ghalib Market police station.

In his plea, the petitioner contented that the Lahore High Court had granted him protective bail till May 6. However, despite court order, an operation was carried out by police at his residence to arrest him. He argued that attempt to arrest him by police was tantamount to contempt of court.

The petitioner requested the court that contempt proceedings should be initiated against the Punjab IGP, the Anti-Corruption DG and others for violating the court orders.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday summoned a detailed report from the Punjab police and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on their late-night raid at the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) president and former chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. LHC’s Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar issued the directives while hearing a petition filed by PTI leader’s son Rasikh Elahi against the Friday night operation to arrest his father.

Earlier,

(LHC) summoned a detailed report from the Punjab police and anti-corruption department on their late-night raid at the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) president and former chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.

According to the source, LHC’s Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar issued the directives while hearing a petition filed by the PTI leader’s son Rasikh Elahi against the Friday night operation to arrest his father. The development comes hours after a police team raided the residence of Parvez Elahi in Gujarat.

As per details Moonis Elahi, the son of former chief minister’s son, confirmed the development in a Twitter post where he also shared a video showing police official standing outside the house. “Punjab police did again at Kunjah House in Gujarat to conduct another raid. I have told them to give them access although they still don’t have a search warrant,” he wrote on Twitter.

Furthermore at the outset of the hearing, Rasikh’s lawyer told the court that police officials were conducting raids daily, adding fresh cases had also been registered against the former CM. The petition pleaded the court to stop authorities from arresting Parvez Elahi and booking him in further cases.

Moreover at this, Justice Dogar remarked under what law he could bar the police from arresting him. The court could not accept the plea until a report is submitted on the matter, he said. The court then directed the Punjab Police and ACE to submit a detailed report on the raid conducted at Mr Elahi’s residence.

Meanwhile the Monday night’s action comes days after police action at Mr Elahi’s Lahore residence on Friday night. The operation continued for six hours during which police broke the main gate of his residence, using an armored vehicle but it was halted after police and ACE officials failed to find him. The police also faced resistance during the operation with ACE DG Sohail Zafar Chattha claiming that a petrol bomb was hurled at the raiding party who came to arrest the former chief minister. During the raid, the police arrested 12 people including employees of the Chaudhry family.

As per details the operation was later challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) by Parvez Elahi’s son Rasikh Elahi through his lawyer Amir Saeed, making the Punjab government, ACE and police respondents in the case. The petitioner argued that the raid was conducted even though the LHC had approved protective bail for his father. He pleaded the court to issue an order for removing the police from the Zahoor Elahi Road.

According to the source, he also sought orders to restrict the police from arresting Parvez Elahi, adding that action should be taken against the officers involved in the late-night raid.

Furthermore Rasikh urged the court to stop authorities from arresting his family members till decision on the petition. The police action comes as the PTI and PDM government are set to hold crucial talks today in order to resolve the issues related to elections.