Zafar Qureshi is deliberately obstructing the course of justice to prolong Moonis Elahi’s incarceration. Moonis Elahi’s defence lawyer

Lahore (17 September 2011) District and Sessions Judge Mujahid Mustaqeem as Special Judge Banking Court today on the FIA’s 15 day extension request has adjourned the NICL case hearing till September 26. Moonis Elahi’s lawyer Amjad Parvez opposing the FIA’s 15 day extension request on legal grounds accused the investigation agency of blatantly wasting the court’s time and violating its orders. He further accused the FIA of deliberately obstructing the course of justice to prolong Moonis Elahi’s incarceration. 

Moonis Elahi’s defence lawyer citing examples of the delaying tactics employed by the FIA said that on Zafar Qureshi’s Aug 18 request asking the court for an additional one month for further investigation the court gave him time till September 6, on Sept 6 in response to the FIA’s demand for further time for the appointment of a prosecutor the court allowed the FIA further grace time till September 17 but the FIA had neither appointed a prosecutor and nor had purportedly completed its investigation. 

He said that Zafar Qureshi’s request for a further 15 day extension to present the final challan was illegal as two challans of the same case could not be presented. He demanded the court to order Zafar Qureshi to apprize the court as to why the FIA had failed to appoint a prosecutor and present the final challan thus far. He asked to be informed that if the FIA had still not appointed a prosecutor then who was presenting the interim challan, producing new witnesses and asking the court on Zafar Qureshi’s behalf for further time relaxation. 

He wanted to know the antecedents of the individual presently appearing on behalf of the FIA and if he was not a prosecutor. The court in its decision ordered the FIA to present the final challan and the new prosecutor on September 26 failing which the court ruled that it could call Zafar Qureshi.

Instead of blowing his own horn Shahbaz Sharif should do something concrete for dengue elimination: Moonis Elahi

Lahore (September 8, 2011) Senior leader Pakistan Muslim League Moonis Elahi in a press statement released in Lahore today strongly criticized the Punjab government for the dengue outbreak in the province and especially in the provincial metropolis. He held Shahbaz Sharif personally responsible for the deaths caused due to dengue virus in the province. He accused the Punjab chief minister of being too occupied in blowing his own horn when he should have been actually doing something concrete to eradicate the dengue menace. Historians will remember the self-proclaimed Khadim e Ala as one ranting and raving chief minister of Punjab whose favorite pastime was his own trumpet blowing while the people were left to suffer at the hands of poverty, unemployment, criminal elements and now the dengue mosquito, said Moonis Elahi. 


He called upon Shahbaz Sharif to quit his cheap one man show politics and provide the common man with immediate medical relief against the killer virus at government hospitals including the free supply of platelets and medicines for the distressed. Moonis Elahi stated that Shahbaz Sharif government had billions to spend on Jaati Umra expressway but no money for dengue treatment. Strongly criticizing the sasti roti scam, Ashyana scheme, yellow cab stunt, Moonis Elahi said that Shahbaz government had done nothing for the people except launch bogus schemes and cash upon projects launched by the PML government of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. He further accused Shahbaz Sharif of missing no opportunity of self praise and projection while in reality he had not even bothered to appoint a full time provincial health minister since 2008. Dengue spread in the previous years should have been enough for the government to get going this year for its eradication but what came out were negligence, incompetency and sheer indifference to public problems in Punjab, stated Moonis Elahi.


He further stated that his party would expose the real faces and actual causes behind the spread of dengue disease in the coming session of the Punjab Assembly. We want to bring the actual culprits responsible for dengue outbreak in Punjab in the dock, Moonis Elahi stated at the conclusion of his statement.

Zafar Qureshi tried to dictate court: Moonis Elahi's counsel

Lahore (September 06, 2011) District & Sessions Judge Mujahid Mustaqim acting in the capacity of Special Judge Banking Court had adjourned the NICL case hearing on the FIA’s request till September 17. Earlier in today’s proceedings Moonis Elahi’s lawyer during his arguments urged the Honourable Court that if the FIA was being unduly facilitated to appoint a new prosecutor and present a new challan then his client should also be given the due relief denied to him thus far. 

He further argued that in Zafar Qureshi’s request to the Honourable Court nowhere had he asked for a full month to complete the investigation. Moonis Elahi’s lawyer strongly objected to the language used by Zafar Qureshi in his letter addressed to the Honourable Court. He said that the tone and tanner of the said letter was such that it seemed Zafar Qureshi was giving orders to the court and doing so was in his jurisdiction. 

He said that according to contents of the said letter the Honourable Court was nothing more than a post office. The Honourable Court reprimanded the FIA officials for continuously changing the agency’s representative in the course of the proceedings. The Honourable Court instructed the FIA to appoint a permanent representative to be present in the proceedings. On the Court’s inquiry that how much more time did the FIA require to complete the investigation, the FIA officials forwarded an application requesting for one month to complete the task.

Later talking to the media, Moonis Elahi’s lawyer Rai Bashir Ahmad accused Zafar Qureshi of taking undue advantages of the importance given to him by Supreme Court. He further accused Zafar Qureshi of leveraging the Supreme Court’s importance to dictate his own orders to the Lower Courts. He alleged Zafar Qureshi of blackmailing the courts and said that this was neither in the judiciary’s interest nor in the interest of the public. He said that Moonis Elahi to express his faith in the country’s law and the judiciary’s capacity to dispense justice had returned voluntarily from England which had no extradition treaty signed with Pakistan. A large number of Pakistan Muslim League’s supporters were present in the court throughout the day’s proceedings where senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League Moonis Elahi was brought in an armored vehicle amid high security.

Moonis Elahi moves Supreme Court for early hearing of review petition

September 5, 2011

Moonis Elahi, senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League and son of senior federal minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, on Monday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of his pending review petition.

He prayed the court to fix his review petition along with his stay application for September 9 to meet the ends of justice. The petitioner contended that if his review petition was not heard along with his stay application at an early date, he would suffer irreparable losses and injury to his person as well as reputation, as the hearing of these matters after completion of wrongful, biased, incorrect and inimical investigation would render the fate of these matters before the court infructuous and thus the ends of justice would be frustrated.

On August 18, Moonis filed a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict of August 8 wherein the apex court reassigned the NICL scam investigation to Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Additional Director General Zafar Ahmed Qureshi. On August 8, the Supreme Court had quashed the suspension order of Zafar Qureshi and directed him to resume his task in recovering the looted money. The court had directed Zafar Qureshi to carry out investigation of the case and asked him to complete the investigation of the cases expeditiously. In his review petition on August 18, Moonis contended that the Supreme Court’s decision of reassigning the NICL scam investigation to Zafar Qureshi was made without hearing his contentions, reservations and point of view, which was against the norms of justice. Thus, he had contended that the decision needed to be reviewed in the best interest of justice.