Pakistan court grants bail to PTI leader Parvez Elahi in money laundering case

On May 26, a district court in Lahore had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Elahi.

A Lahore court on Tuesday granted bail to Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the President of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, in a money laundering case filed by the country's top anti-corruption agency against him.

Judge Aslam Gondal of the Banking Offenses Court issued the order over the bail application of the former Punjab chief minister, who had been arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for alleged money laundering, Geo News reported.

The court ordered Elahi, a close aide to former prime minister Imran Khan, to submit a surety bond of Rs 500,000 against the bail. The FIA had booked the 77-year-old veteran leader 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.

Judge Gondal questioned the FIA for adopting a non-cooperative attitude after the probe agency failed to submit the record despite the court order.

On May 26, a district court in Lahore issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Elahi.

Elahi was initially arrested on June 1 in a graft case, amid a crackdown on Khan's party 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 the LHC, Elahi had requested the court to grant him bail like Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Elahi, who was a close aide to military dictator General Pervez Musharraf, was appointed as the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in March this year after quitting his former party - the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Imran Khan by paramilitary Rangers in Islamabad. His party workers vandalised over 20 military installations and government buildings, including the Lahore Corps Commander House, Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. Khan was later released on bail.

The violence elicited a strong reaction from the government and military with vows of taking action against the culprits, leading to an ongoing crackdown against those involved.