Imran Khan’s party president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi rearrested despite clear court orders: Report

Lahore, September 1

Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the president of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, was on Friday rearrested by the Islamabad police, hours after the Lahore High Court ordered his release in a graft case and explicitly directing the authorities not to take him in custody in any other case, a media report said on Friday.

Elahi, 77, was released from the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday afternoon after the LHC ordered the authorities to set him free as they did not present him in the court despite clear orders, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“Former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was taken into custody on orders of the district magistrate under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). He is being shifted to jail,” the Capital police in Islamabad said in a tweet on the platform X (formerly Twitter).

Section 3 of MPO empowers the government to arrest and detain suspected persons.

It states: “The government, if satisfied that with a view to preventing any person from acting in any manner prejudicial to public safety or the maintenance of public order, it is necessary to do, may, by an order in writing, direct the arrest and detention in such custody […] and [the] government, if satisfied that for the aforesaid reasons, it is necessary so to do, may extend from time to time the period of such detention, for a period not exceeding six months at a time,” the report said.

Elahi is among several Pakistan Tehreek-i Insaaf (PTI) leaders and workers who have been arrested amid the state’s crackdown on the PTI leadership following the May 9 riots during protests over party chief Khan being whisked away by paramilitary personnel at the Islamabad High Court premises.

He was first arrested on June 1 but was deprived of his freedom repeatedly and dragged in on several graft cases.

The PTI president’s most recent arrest, by the NAB on August 14, was in a case of allegedly receiving bribes/kickbacks in exchange for getting the contracts of road schemes of Gujrat Highways Division awarded to favourite/hand-picked contractors. His custody was extended till September 2.

On Friday morning after ordering the release of Elahi, the LHC warned the NAB against arresting the former Punjab chief minister in any other case.

Expressing displeasure over the NAB and the Punjab provincial government’s conduct, Justice Rafiq remarked that the high court is being undermined.

“Stop playing ping-pong with the court,” he said in the order and instructed an inquiry to be conducted into his arrest in violation of court orders.