Pervaiz Elahi blasts Zafar Qureshi

ISLAMABAD:


The Chaudhrys of Gujrat firmly believe that senior suspended bureaucrat Zafar Qureshi was hell-bent on instituting more trumped up cases against their scion, Moonis Elahi after the previous case was damaged under pressure.

“In no judicial system of any part of the world, a case stands intact when all the prosecution witnesses, who had been coerced into deposing against the accused, tell the concerned court that they were tortured by investigators into making statements against him,” top Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and Senior Federal Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi told The News. This, he said, has exactly happened against his son as all the nine witnesses have told the trial court that they were intimidated into speaking against Moonis Elahi. “They also informed the judge that they have seen Moonis Elahi for the first time in the life in this court when they have come here to record their statements.”

Pervaiz Elahi said that to settle his old score with him and his family, Zafar Qureshi was determined to target Moonis Elahi and had told his subordinates on the very first day of assuming the charge three days back that he wanted to bring new cases against the PML-Q leader.

“But he is not a free agent and is acting on the tunes set by the Sharif brothers,” the senior minister charged. Isn’t it great injustice that Moonis Elahi is behind the bars for the last five months for having committed no crime? he asked and said that after all the witnesses, put up by Zafar Qureshi by using force, gave their statements in the court by swearing on the Holy Quran, the defence lawyer filed acquittal plea.

Additionally, Pervaiz Elahi said, hundred percent recovery of allegedly swindled money has been made, and this way too Moonis Elahi has been found innocent. “What is then left in the case against him?”

The minister said there was no motive behind transferring four FIA officials, who had been assisting Zafar Qureshi, to different areas because all the officials in the agency, who had been working at one place for the last ten years or more, had been moved to other places.

This can be verified from the FIA record, he said. He said that Zafar Qureshi has no powers to write to the FIA director general to cancel the transfer orders relating to the four officers because it was the authority of the departmental head to shift them from one place to another.

Pervaiz Elahi said that the only agenda of Zafar Qureshi was to target Moonis Elahi. While the Sharif brothers fled the country just to save themselves from the accountability process and jail imprisonment, Moonis Elahi came back from abroad to face even the fake case registered against him by Qureshi, he said.

The minister said that no bureaucrat does what Zafar Qureshi has been doing by crossing all limits. “It is unlawful on the part of a government servant to bypass his official mandate and duty and persecute any particular person at the behest of somebody else, who wants to implement his political agenda against us.”

He said the Sharif brothers’ business concerns owing Rs5 billion loans were being run on stay orders while the corruption references were pending against them in the accountability courts. But instead of looking at their own deeds, they are out to victimize his family especially his son, Pervaiz Elahi said.

However, the minister said that neither he nor any of his family members would escape from Pakistan. “We would fight the cases against us to get justice and stand vindicated at the end of the day.”

Govt wants me sacked: Zafar Qureshi

LAHORE (Online) - Zafar Ahmad Qureshi, the investigation officer in National Insurance Corporation (NIC) corruption scandal, has said the government wants to sac k him from service following rejection of the government offer by him and his decision to conduct investigation on merit.
“Government is confused and it has no courage to face the truth. Several offers were made to me through Rehman Malik but I rejected all of them and decided to carry out probe on merit. All the action has been taken against me due to this decision. The govt is out to seek my termination from service,” he said this in exclusive talks with Online here Tuesday.
It remains no secret to any one that what govt was doing and what it wanted, he held. What ugly way had been adopted by the government for removing me from the investigation had no precedence in the past, he said.
“I was awakened by midnight and handed over the notice. I was ordered to furnish reply within three hours. I have given reply in writing. Following submission of reply by me government has ordered inquiry against me.
What has been made basis for initiation of action against me has no substance. I have neither addressed any press conference nor have I called any journalist in my home and given any such statement”, he underlined. Govt is out to seek his termination from service after rejection of all offers by him, he said.
“As far as neutral and impartial investigations are concerned I have done. Not only the entire country knows it but it is also in the knowledge of Supreme Court. Now SC should play its role in my personal matter. I am government employee and whatever obligations were entrusted to me I had discharged them with utmost honesty, wisdom and competence. These investigations had extremely upset the big guns sitting in the corridors of power and they are active now to remove me,” he said.
“I am adamant on my decision and whatever investigations will be made it will be based on merit no matter if the decision goes against anyone,” he underscored.