LHC seeks exhaustive report on police raid at Parvez Elahi's house

The police action comes hours before the PTI and govt will hold crucial talks on election

LAHORE (Dunya News) – 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. 

The development comes hours after a police team raided the residence of Parvez Elahi in Gujrat. Moonis Elahi, the son of former chief minister, confirmed the development in a Twitter post where he also shared a video showing police official standing outside the house.

“Punjab police again at Kunjah House in Gujrat 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.

 

— Moonis Elahi (@MoonisElahi6) May 1, 2023

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 the authorities from arresting Parvez Elahi and booking him in further cases.

At this, Justice Dogar remarked under what law he could bar police from arresting him. The court could not accept the plea until a report was 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. 

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 which came to arrest the former chief minister.

During the raid, police arrested 12 people including employees of the Chaudhry family. 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 Zahoor Elahi Road. 

He also sought orders to restrict police from arresting Parvez Elahi, adding that action should be taken against the officers involved in the late-night raid. Rasikh urged the court to stop the authorities from arresting his family members till a decision on the petition. 

The police action comes as the PTI and PDM government are set to hold crucial talks today (Tuesday) in order to resolve the issues related to elections. 

The court, while seeking a detailed report on police action, adjourned the case till May 8.