LAHORE: An anti-corruption court on Friday granted post-arrest bail to Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the principal secretary to former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi, in a case of receiving assembly session allowance during forced leave period.
The court directed Muhammad Khan Bhatti to furnish two surety bonds of Rs 1 million for availing the relief of bail.
Anti-Corruption Court Judge Ali Raza Awan announced the reserved verdict on bail petition filed by the accused. The court had reserved its verdict, after hearing detailed arguments of the parties.
The court observed that other co-accused had already been granted bail in the matter, therefore, the benefit of bail was being extended to the accused in accordance with rule of consistency.
Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab had registered a case against Muhammad Khan Bhatti, who also served as Punjab Assembly secretary, for illegally receiving Rs 3.2 million as assembly session allowance. The ACE stated that the accused remained on forced leave from 2009 to 2018 and he received the assembly session allowance for the period despite the fact that he was not entitled for it.