LAHORE  -  An accountability court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of a corruption reference related to development projects in Gujrat against former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and others till November 20.

Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani conducted the proceedings, during which co-accused Naeem Iqbal, Asif, and Asghar were produced after being brought from jail. During the proceedings, the defence counsel sought time to present arguments on an application challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter, adding that the counsel for accused Muhammad Khan Bhatti was not available today for arguments.

However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor, Waris Ali Janjua, argued that the accused were trying to delay the trial proceedings. He submitted that Parvez Elahi did not appear today either. At this, Parvez Elahi’s counsel submitted that his client was sick and doctors had advised him to rest, while submitting an exemption application on behalf of his client. The court observed that the NAB had filed a reply to the application challenging the court’s jurisdiction, and the counsel for the accused was being given a final opportunity to advance arguments on the NAB’s reply.

Subsequently, the court accepted Parvez Elahi’s exemption application and adjourned further proceedings till November 20. It is pertinent to mention here that accused Muhammad Khan Bhatti was not produced after being brought from jail due to illness. The NAB has accused Parvez Elahi and Moonis Elahi of receiving over Rs. 1 billion as kickbacks through intermediaries in more than 200 development projects in the Gujrat district during Parvez Elahi’s second term as chief minister of Punjab.