ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court on Wednesday granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) 10-day physical remand of former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry in a corruption case.
Accountability Court judge Muhammad Bashir while announcing its reserved judgment remanded Chaudhry for 10 days into NAB custody.
Earlier, NAB prosecutor Sohail Arif informed the court that the bureau has implemented the arrest warrant against the former minister.
He requested the court to issue production orders for the accused to present him before the court to obtain his physical remand.
He further told the court that the accused is in judicial custody and under the law production an accused before the court within 24 hours after his arrest.
Later, after the approval of the court, NAB officials produced Chaudhry before the court.
Chaudhry’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry, prosecutor Sohail Arif, and the investigation officer (IO) of the case appeared before the court.
The NAB prosecutor requested the court to grant 14 days of physical remand for the accused to investigate him. When the judge inquired about the case, the prosecutor said that NAB had started an inquiry regarding corruption in Jhelum Road on November 10, 2023, but the accused refused to join the investigation.
He alleged that Chaudhry being a minister put pressure on the preparation of PC-1 of the said road project. The physical remand of the accused is required for investigation and obtaining relevant records, he said, adding that this is the first physical remand, therefore, grant 14 days remand for the accused.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023