LAHORE: A sessions court on Saturday granted interim pre-arrest bail to the wife of former federal minister Moonis Elahi and his other family members in a money laundering case restraining the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting them till Feb 14.

Moonis’ wife Tehreem Elahi, his brother Rasikh Elahi along with wife Zara appeared before the court.

On behalf of the petitioners, Advocate Amjad Parvez argued before the court that the FIA nominated his clients in an FIR of alleged money laundering purely on political considerations.

Asked if the inquiry had been completed, the counsel said the FIA registered the FIR after the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. He said the agency accused the petitioners of committing money laundering of over Rs30 million.

The counsel pointed out that the Lahore High Court (LHC) had recently quashed a similar case against Moonis Elahi and others. He said lodging another case on similar allegations showed sheer mala fide on part of the FIA.

The additional district and sessions judge allowed the petition and granted bail to the petitioners subject to furnishing of bail bonds.

The other day, the FIA had told the LHC that the wife of Moonis was a nominated suspect in an FIR of alleged money laundering.

Tehreem had approached the high court against inclusion of her name in a no-fly list when stopped by the immigration officials at Lahore airport on Jan 10 from travelling aboard.

She said the officials informed her that her name was on the no-fly list and she could not leave the country.

She said the interior ministry targeted her on political grounds after her husband and father-in-law decided to stand by PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2023