Court issues notices on NAB plea to close inquiry against Elahi

LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday issued notices on a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) plea seeking its permission to shelve a graft inquiry against PML-Q leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi.

The court directed all the respondents to file their response to the application by April 26.

The corruption watchdog stated that the PML-Q leader along with others was accused of making illegal appointments on grade-16 posts during his stint as the local government minister of Punjab.

Two accused named in the inquiry, Javed Qureshi and Mushir Alam, have died while half the recruited people have retired from their services, the application said, adding the then chief minister of Punjab had relaxed the relevant rules for these appointments on 16-grad posts.

Arguing that the key accused have already died, the bureau requested the court to allow it to close the inquiry.

Earlier, on April 3, 2019, an accountability court accepted the National Accountability Bureau’s plea to close a corruption case against PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

The prosecutor had contended before the court that the bureau’s chairman had given his approval to close an inquiry against the Chaudhry brothers over alleged illegal purchase of 28 plots in the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) city.

He said it transpired during investigation that it was the Chaudhry brothers’ employee who had purchased the plots and that no evidence was found to show their involvement in the scam.