LAHORE: A sessions’ court on Friday allowed interim pre-arrest bail to Attaullah Tarar; special assistant to prime minister, till September 14 in a case relating to violence in the Punjab Assembly on election of chief minister held on April 16 and asked him to join the investigation.

Initially Qilla Gujjar Singh police had registered a case against the MPAs of PTI and PML-Q and staff of the assembly on charges of resorting to violence during the election of the chief minister wherein Hamza Shehbaz emerged victorious against Ch Pervez Elahi. The MPAs of the coalition government were also charged for manhandling then deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari.

Several MPAs of the PTI and PML-Q besides staff of the assembly including then secretary of the assembly Muhammad Khan Bhatti had secured pre-arrest bail from the court in the case.

After the victory of Pervez Elahi in a run-off election for the chief minister, the police changed direction of its investigation towards the MPAs of PML-N and started summoning them. The police had got warrants from a judicial magistrate concerned for the arrest of MPAs of the PML-N including Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Attaullah Tarar, Sardar Awais Leghari, Saiful Malook Khokhar, Pir Khizar Hayat Khagga, Raja Sagheer Ahmad and others.

Tarar, talking to the media persons outside the court, lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Parvaiz Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi for holding political rallies during the testing time of massive flooding in the province. He said the government should shun political rallies and reach out the affectees of the floods.

To a media query about rising prices of petrol, Tarar said Finance Minister Miftah Ismail was doing a good job and the government would soon give relief to the masses.

Tarar said former chief minister Hamza Shehbaz had returned to the country and the party would boost its political activities. About the case against him, Tarar said he was not even present in the house but police at the behest of the government implicated him in the case.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022