LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday indicted former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi on charges of allegedly receiving kickbacks for development projects in his hometown, Gujrat. Mr Elahi pleaded not guilty to the charges and sought permanent exemption from court appearances due to health issues. Judge Zubair Shehzad Kayani presided over the hearing of the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Mr Elahi. The PTI president, who was summoned by the court, arrived at the judicial co­m­plex on Tuesday. How­ever, he rema­ined in his vehicle on court premises due to his health condition, as his atten­dance was marked. The defence lawyers told the judge that the former chief minister was unable to climb stairs due to illness. After framing charges, the judge summoned prosecution witnesses to record their statements on Jan 21. The judge also issued a notice to NAB on Mr Elahi’s application to appoint Advocate Anwaar Hussain as his pleader to appear on his behalf in future. The charges have alre­ady been framed against co-accused, including Mr Elahi’s former principal secretary Moh­a­m­mad Khan Bhatti, Naeem Iqbal, Asif Meh­mood Rat­hore, Mohammad Asghar, Khalid Muhammad Chattha, and Asad Ali. The NAB alleged that Mr Bhatti, as principal secretary to then chief minister Elahi, awarded contracts to “blue-eyed contractors” in connivance with other suspects, including government officials. It accused Mr of “approving” full payments to the contractors even before the construction work started “only to receive kickbacks”. The bureau alleged that the bribe money was transferred into the bank accounts of Mr Elahi and his son, Moonis. Mr Elahi also appeared before a duty judge at the Sessions Court for the hearing of a money laundering case against him and his family. FIA representatives, including special prosecutor and assistant director Rana Uzair Amjad, appeared in the court. Mr Elahi’s counsel requested the court to mark his attendance in the car due to his health condition. However, the judge insisted on Mr Elahi’s appearance in person “even if in a wheelchair”. “We have to maintain the system,” the judge observed. Eventually, Mr Elahi appeared before the judge and marked his attendance in the court. The judge directed the prosecution to distribute copies of the challan (charge sheet) to suspects at the next hearing on Jan 28. The FIA alleged that the sons and the daughters-in-law of the former chief minister laundered money through a low cadre employee of the Punjab Assembly. It said the suspects used the bank accounts of Qaiser Iqbal Bhatti, a peon, to launder money. The agency said unexplained transactions of millions of rupees were traced in the accounts of Mr Bhatti and Mr Elahi’s children. FIA alleged Mr Bhatti had accumulated assets beyond his known sources of income. The FIA said the inquiry in question had no relation to any previous probe as it had been initiated against a government servant, Mr Bhatti. Mr Moonis has already been declared a proclaimed offender in this case.