LAHORE: A special court on Saturday deferred the verdict on an application filed by PTI President Parvez Elahi seeking his acquittal in a money laundering case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Judge Arif Khan Niazi had reserved the verdict on Sept 27 and scheduled its announcement for Oct 25. However, the judge has now rescheduled the announcement of the decision for Nov 8.
During the hearing, the court also accepted a request for a one-time exemption from personal appearance on behalf of Mr Elahi, after his counsel informed the judge that the former chief minister could not appear due to the death of a close relative.
According to the FIA, the sons and the daughters-in-law of the former chief minister allegedly committed money laundering through a low cadre employee of the Punjab Assembly. It claimed the suspects used the bank accounts of Qaiser Iqbal Bhatti, a peon of the assembly, to launder money.
The FIA stated that unexplained transactions amounting to millions of rupees were traced in the accounts of both the peon and the children of Mr Elahi. It alleged that the assets of the peon were found beyond his known sources of income. The agency clarified that the inquiry in question was independent and unrelated to any previous investigation, as it had been initiated against a government employee and the assembly’s peon.
Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2025
