Court grants bail to Parvez Elahi in corruption cases

• Politician booked for taking kickbacks in development schemes.
• PTI president submitted pleas for interim bail in two corruption cases.
• Elahi already received protective bail by LHC in two cases till May 4 and 15.

An anti-corruption court has granted interim bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi on Wednesday in corruption cases filed against him.

The bail has been granted to him until May 23, after he appeared at the court in Gujranwala.

Punjab's former chief minister had submitted applications for interim bails in two different cases registered against him in Gujranwala and Gujrat.

The senior politician was booked for taking kickbacks in development schemes in both cases.

A day earlier, Elahi received protective bail by the Lahore High Court in two cases till May 4 and 15, respectively.

The high court approved his bail plea till May 15 in a case registered by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), while another bail till May 4 was granted in a case registered over terrorism charges.

Elahi was also directed to approach the courts concerned in both cases.

LHC rejects Elahi's plea against his arrest

On Tuesday, an LHC bench had turned down the PTI leader's petition to stop the police from arresting him after which he appeared before the court and secured protective bail.

The court directed the Punjab police chief and director general ACE to submit a report on the late-night raid conducted at Elahi's Gulberg residence.

The court will resume the hearing of the case on May 8.

After the hearing, Elahi talked to the media and alleged that caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and ACE Additional Director General Waqas Hassan were responsible for the raid on his residence.

He had also asked the court to stop the police from arresting him which was rejected. The plea was filed by Elahi’s son Rasikh on behalf of his father against the late-night police raid at their house last week.

LHC’s rejection came hours after police conducted another operation at Elahi’s residence in Gujrat.

Elahi's residence raided

Kunjah House, the former CM's residence in Gujrat, was searched by the police for a brief period, with the anti-corruption department — which was involved in the Lahore raid — denying any involvement.

In the Friday night raid in Lahore, anti-corruption and police officials used an armoured vehicle to break open the main gate of the PTI president's Gulberg residence and arrested 19 people, mostly his employees, from the house.

The former chief minister was also booked under terror charges for "attacking" the police during the late-night raid.

The federal government had distanced itself from the police raid and held the provincial authorities for the move.