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The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed the Punjab police chief and the director general of the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to submit a detailed report regarding the late-night raid at the home of ex-Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.
The orders came during the hearing of a petition filed by Elahi’s son, Rasikh Elahi, against the raid at his father’s home.
The government of Punjab through the chief secretary, the Punjab ACE director general and additional director general, the Lahore senior superintendent of police, and the Model Town superintendent were made respondents in the case.
The development came hours after authorities conducted yet another raid at Kunjah House in Gujrat, according to Elahi’s other son Moonis.
“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 said in a tweet posted in the early hours of Tuesday.
LHC’s Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar presided over today’s hearing during which Rasikh’s lawyer contended that raids were being conducted daily on the orders of the ACE and the Punjab police.
“Raids are being conducted daily after new first information reports (FIRs) are registered,” he said.
The lawyer urged the court to stop authorities from arresting Elahi and registering another case against him until a detailed report was submitted. However, the request was rejected by the court.
“Under what law can the court bar an arrest?” Justice Dogar asked. “How can we accept what you are saying until a report is submitted?”
Rasikh’s lawyer went on to say that another raid was conducted at Elahi’s home in Gujrat last night.
The court then sought a detailed report from the Punjab ACE director general and the Punjab inspector general, while also directing the two to work within the ambit of the law.
The plea
The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said that Elahi had been granted protective bail in a case registered against him by the ACE on April 27. Despite the clear orders of the court, the respondents raided the petitioner’s home on April 28 “with 300 to 400 policemen armed with sticks” and broke down the main gate with an armoured vehicle.
It said that officials entered without any search warrants and “in such a violent manner as if an operation was being conducted in the area of Waziristan or tribal areas of Punjab”.
It further said that the entire ordeal was broadcasted by the media creating a “sense of fear” among the public at large and at least 30 servants had also been arrested.
The petition contended that the raids on the petitioner’s home were made without any lawful authority and were, therefore, illegal. It further said that the petitioners had conducted the raids with “malafide intent and ulterior motives” for the sake of political victimisation on the orders of the ruling parties.
“The raids on the house of the petitioner with the purpose of arresting the petitioner’s father have been made in violations of provisions of [law] as the respondents were not competent to arrest the petitioner’s father till May 6 as the petitioner’s father was granted bail by this honourable court …”
The plea urged the court to declare the raid on April 28 illegal and in violation of the law and the fundamental rights of the petitioner. It also urged the court to pass an order for clearing Zahoor Elahi Road from “illegal occupation of police” and to direct the respondents to vacate the house of the petitioner, and to bar authorities from arresting raiding the petitioner’s home and attempting to arrest Elahi till the plea was decided.
Raid on Elahi’s home
ACE and police officials had raided Elahi’s residence in Lahore to arrest him late on Friday night. The raiding team used an armoured vehicle to break open the main gate of the former Punjab chief minister’s Gulberg residence and arrested 12 people, mostly his employees, from the house. Female police officers also took some women into custody.
TV footage showed that riot police officials entered the house and used batons to beat the employees of the Elahi family.
The police officials thoroughly searched the house but could not find Elahi. They also tried to force their entry into the adjoining residence of PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, but they were resisted by Shujaat’s sons.
The search operation continued until at least 2am on Saturday and the police failed to lay hands on Elahi, who was said to not be in the house. The ACE said that its Gujranwala team had arrived at Elahi’s house to arrest him in a corruption case.
Subsequently, Punjab police had registered a case against the ex-Punjab chief minister and others on terrorism charges for allegedly attacking ACE officials.
Interestingly, the government — which is currently involved in crucial talks with the PTI regarding elections in the court — had distanced itself from the police action.
In a phone call with PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PML-N leader Ishaq Dar said the federal government had nothing to do with the raid on the house of the former Punjab CM. He expressed grave concerns and claimed that the police action was orchestrated by the caretaker government.
Meanwhile, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Sunday he was “appalled” to know that the police had stormed into the home of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, whose Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) party is an ally of the ruling coalition, to arrest Elahi.
Responding to a tweet of PML-Q chief’s son Chaudhry Salik Husain, Naqvi assured, “No illegal action will be allowed by anyone”.
On Monday, Shujaat had condemned the police raid on Elahi’s residence, calling it unacceptable as his home is located next to his cousin and was also breached during the raid.
“This is completely unacceptable,” he said while speaking to journalists and demanded that all those behind the raid be caught and held accountable.
The PML-Q chief said he had asked his sons to exercise patience, adding he would speak on the matter at length later.
Emphasising that he did not want to say anything that could harm national politics as the country was already facing a plethora of crises, Shujaat said, “When the police arrived at Parvez Elahi’s residence, they were informed that he was at Chaudhry Shujaat’s place. The policemen then barged into my house.”
The veteran politician said his sons tried to stop the police from entering the house, but they entered forcibly. He said police also smashed windowpanes of the door but could not get it opened.
He said that when police were asked about the reason for raid, they would say it was about billions of rupees commission taken for grant of contracts for construction of roads in Gujrat, as well as bribe from an international firm.
Shujaat clarified that his sons had nothing to do with these cases.