Illegal recruitment case: M. Khan Bhatti granted bail

Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Tuesday granted bail to the former Principal Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti of former Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in the illegal appointment case.

According to the details, Justice Amjad Rafiq of LHC announced the protective decision.

During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner said that Muhammad Khan Bhatti has been implicated in the bogus case. The allegation is that failed candidates were given jobs in grade 17, there is no evidence of forgery against the accused on record.

This case is made to target political revenge, the charges of jailing Parvez Elahi and Mohammad Khan Bhatti are based on lies, stated the lawyer.

He added that the results may have been changed to implicate Elahi and Muhammad Khan. The political opponents of the two may have forged, this is a case for further inquiry. There is no evidence on record, therefore the bail application of Muhammad Khan Bhatti should be granted.

Later, the court approved the bail application of Muhammad Khan Bhatti in the illegal appointment case.

It is pertinent to note that last month Muhammad Khan filed a bail application in the case of alleged illegal recruitment in the Punjab Assembly.

In the case of alleged illegal recruitment in the Punjab Assembly on May 2, the accused could not be charged due to the non-appearance of former Punjab Chief Minister.

It should be noted that on March 27, the anti-corruption court of Lahore rejected the bail application of former Punjab Chief Minister Parvez and his former principal secretary Muhammad in the case of illegal recruitment in the Punjab Assembly.

The court had reserved the decision on March 26 after the arguments of the lawyers were completed.

On March 19, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) president Parvez Elahi was not charged in two corruption cases as authorities at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi did not produce him before the respective courts citing medical reasons.

In the hearing held on January 25, the court summoned Elahi and other accused for the charge sheet.

Notably, on September 19, Parvez Elahi was detained again on the issue of illegal appointment of Muhammad Khan along with this case.

Earlier, a team of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and the police arrested Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on June 1 after a week-long siege at his residence.

According to the ACE spokesperson, Elahi was wanted in a case related to abuse of power and embezzlement of development funds.

The ACE spokesperson told that in the case of illegal appointments, it is alleged that Parvez Elahi recruited 12 grade 17 officers in the Punjab Assembly against merit.

He said that the former Chief Minister of Punjab changed the results of the candidates belonging to Gujarat and Mandi Bahauddin, and in this regard, Secretary Punjab Assembly Rai Mumtaz Hussain has also been arrested.

On June 4, the session court of Lahore sent Parvez Elahi and Muhammad Bhatti to jail on 14-day judicial remand in the illegal appointment case. On June 20, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was granted bail after his arrest.

Later on September 19, Parvez Elahi was again detained in connection with the case of illegal appointment of Muhammad Khan Bhatti.