LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore will hear the corruption and kickbacks reference against former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and other accused. The court has summoned National Accountability Bureau (NAB) witnesses to record their testimony.
Accountability Court Judge Rana Arif will hear the reference. Muhammad Khan Bhatti, former principal secretary to the chief minister, and the other accused are expected to appear. Pervaiz Elahi holds a permanent exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds and will not attend. His court-appointed pleader, Mukhtar Ahmed Ranjha, is expected to mark attendance on his behalf, and Javed Arshad Bhatti Advocate will represent him.
NAB filed the reference in December 2023 against Pervaiz Elahi, his son Moonis Elahi and eleven others. It alleges that the accused received about Rs1.23 billion in bribes and kickbacks linked to development contracts in Gujrat. NAB later filed a supplementary reference adding two more accused, Suleman Ahmed and Muzaffar Iqbal.
The reference names the father and son as the main accused. It says they received the largest share of the alleged kickbacks, about Rs744 million. It alleges that they approved additional Punjab Highways Department schemes in Gujrat and gave contracts to favoured contractors. According to NAB, trusted officers were posted to the department to make this possible.
The prosecution alleges that Muhammad Khan Bhatti acted as the channel through which kickbacks were collected. In November 2025, the court was told that co-accused Sohail Asghar Awan had turned approver. Everyone charged in the reference has pleaded not guilty.
The case has moved slowly. Then-judge Zubair Shahzad Kayani indicted the accused in two phases, citing delaying tactics and difficulty securing the attendance of all the accused. Bhatti and other co-accused were charged first. In January 2025, Pervaiz Elahi was indicted and pleaded not guilty. Because of his health, he signed the charge sheet in his car.
In February 2025, the court granted Elahi a permanent exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds and allowed a pleader to appear for him.
In January 2026, Judge Rana Muhammad Arif framed charges again against Elahi and the other accused. All of them again pleaded not guilty and said they would contest the case.
Recording of prosecution evidence has been delayed several times since then. In April 2026, NAB witnesses were present, but Elahi’s counsel did not appear to cross-examine them. His associate told the court the lawyer was busy with a case at the Lahore High Court. The court bound the witnesses to appear again.
In July 2026, the court granted the defence’s request for an adjournment even though NAB witnesses were present. Bhatti did not appear that day. His counsel sought a one-day exemption, citing illness. The court fixed today’s date for recording the witnesses’ statements. The court has already declared Moonis Elahi a proclaimed offender for not appearing.
The trial has now reached the stage of recording evidence, and each hearing that proceeds brings it closer to a verdict. If NAB witnesses record their statements and face cross-examination today, the reference will move forward. Another adjournment would add to delays the court has previously complained about. When ordering the phased indictment, the court said it had faced considerable difficulty securing the attendance of all the accused. It also expressed frustration with repeated medical exemption requests.
The Gujrat reference is one of several cases Pervaiz Elahi faces. In June 2026, a Rawalpindi accountability court indicted him and thirteen others in a separate NAB reference over the alleged illegal transfer of 1,170 kanals of government forest land in the Takht Pari area of Rawat. All the accused pleaded not guilty and called that reference false and politically motivated. The court began recording prosecution evidence in that case on June 16.
Pervaiz Elahi joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2023 after leaving the PML-Q, and was later made PTI president. His supporters have long said the cases against him are part of wider political pressure on PTI leaders. NAB says its evidence and witness statements show abuse of authority.
The case also comes as other high-profile political cases are before Lahore courts. On Monday, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore granted police physical remand of PTI leader Hammad Azhar in the Jinnah House attack case.
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