Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail on Monday to former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case concerning land in Jhelum.

The court presided over by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, ordered the release of the former information minister Fawad was represented in court by his counsel and is incarcerated in Adiala jail on judicial remand

The Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in Rawalpindi booked the former federal information minister, his cousin and frontman and others in a case pertaining to allegedly taking millions of rupees in bribes and misuse of authority for grant of a no-objection certificate (NOC) and public land acquisition for the establishment of a private housing society in Dina area of GT Road.

Fawad, once regarded as one of the hawks in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), announced his departure from the former ruling party on May 24, just weeks after authorities initiated a heavy-handed crackdown against mostly PTI leaders, workers, and sympathisers who had allegedly committed acts of vandalism following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan on May 9.

The former federal minister, who initially expressed his plan to take a break from politics during his May 24 news conference, was soon spotted in meetings of disgruntled PTI leaders who later announced the formation of a new party, the IPP.

Separately, the Peshawar High Court on Monday approved the transit bail of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar in cases related to the May 9 riots.

The Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, heard the petition and approved the transit bail of Hammad Azhar in 51 cases and directed him to appear in the concerned courts within a month.