Parvez Elahi to move court against Punjab interim govt’s ‘unconstitutional steps’

• Ex-CM slams arrest of his former principal secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti.
  
• “Caretaker government is violating sanctity of chadar aur char dewari.”
• Elahi says people will respond with votes to unconstitutional actions.

Former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi Tuesday decided to move the court against “unconstitutional and illegal” actions taken by the provincial caretaker government — a day after the police laid siege to his Gujrat residence.

The development came following a meeting between Elahi — a close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan — and his legal team — comprising Mohsin Murtaza, Khabib Zaman, Muhammad Waseem and others.

Matters related to detentions of political opponents, stopping development projects, "illegal steps" taken by the caretaker government and other issues were discussed during the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Parvez Elahi — the senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) —  condemned the arrest of his former principal secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti, who was taken into custody from Matiari district in Sindh

Elahi said, “The caretaker government is violating the sanctity of chadar aur char dewari (sanctity of privacy).” 

The interim setup was victimising political opponents instead of focusing on elections, he added. “The people will respond to the unconstitutional and illegal actions of the rulers with the power of the vote,” he further said while referring to the upcoming elections in Punjab.

According to the former CM, the caretaker setup is playing with the law and the Constitution and fleeing from elections. “The caretaker government should know that it has no mandate but to conduct the elections. The rulers are afraid of giving a date for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)."

Speaking on the occasion, the PML-Q leader lashed out at the prime minister and the PDM leadership.

Police return without arresting Elahi

A day earlier, the police raided the residence of Elahi in Gujrat but returned without making any arrests.

PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi, the son of Parvez Elahi, shared a video clip of the Punjab Police raiding his father’s residence in his hometown on his Twitter account.

It is pertinent to mention here that Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rashid, who is also a close aide of Imran Khan, was arrested from Murree Motorway on Thursday — a move that drew strong criticism from the PTI. 

PTI Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry was also taken into custody in a sedition case on January 25 and later was released on bail — February 1.