In connection with an alleged instance of irregularities in the Jhelum to Pind Dadan Khan dual highway project, an accountability court in Islamabad awarded former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry a six-day physical remand on Saturday.
Present during the hearing were Fawad’s lawyer, Faisal Fareed Chaudhry, NAB prosecutor Irfan Bhola, and investigating officer (IO) Sohail Arif. Judge Muhammad Bashir served as the court’s presider.
The prosecutor from the NAB contended that the previous hearing had asked for a 14-day remand but only granted 10 days. According to him, Fawad is now being questioned and is expected to reveal information regarding the case.
Additionally, he mentioned that the project’s contractor was summoned on January 2.
The hearing was subsequently postponed until January 5 by the court.
In a corruption hearing that began on December 20, the court had already granted NAB a 10-day physical remand of Fawad. After obtaining custody of him from Adiala Jail, where he was detained, NAB officials brought him before Judge Bashir.
The court was informed by the NAB prosecutor that the project probe had been initiated on November 10, 2023, but that Fawad had declined to be part of it.
He continued by saying that Fawad “misused his influence” as a federal minister to get the project’s PC-1 ready. Fawad was further accused by the prosecutor of taking a commission from the project’s contractor.
In order to ensure that the investigation was thorough, he asked the court to order Fawad’s physical detention by the anti-graft agency for a period of fourteen days.
