The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday sought former information minister Fawad Chaudhry’s arrest for “misusing authority” in a construction project as an Islamabad court granted it permission to arrest him.

The former PTI MNA was arrested in November and remanded in police custody for two days in connection with an August 2022 case for allegedly taking Rs5 million bribe from a citizen.

After his physical remand was extended by a day, he was sent on judicial remand in the case and is incarcerated at the Adiala district jail currently.

Earlier this month, a Rawalpindi court had granted the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) a one-day physical remand of Fawad in a graft case.

Today, it emerged that the Islamabad NAB has issued arrest warrants for the former PTI stalwart, accusing him of “commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices” under Section 9(a) of the NAB ordinance.

The warrant, issued by NAB chairman Lt. Gen (retired) Nazir Ahmed, ordered for Fawad to be “produced before the court for authorisation of detention for such period as may be necessary for finalisation of the inquiry”.

Fawad’s wife, Hiba, also confirmed the development in a post on X (formerly Twitter) today.

In another post, she said there was a “fear in the atmosphere that no one remains outside [jail]” so that they are “unable to contest elections from their constituency”.

Later today, an Islamabad district and session court allowed the NAB to implement the arrest warrant and make him join the investigation.

Judicial Magistrate Yasir Mehmood presided over the hearing, where NAB officials and the investigation officer appeared.

The NAB officials informed the judge that they required Fawad’s custody for an inquiry pertaining to “corruption and misuse of authority”.

They stated that the NAB chairman had issued the warrant under section 24a (arrest) of the accountability laws, adding that the former federal minister was currently in judicial custody.

The NAB further told the court that an inquiry about a dual carriageway project from Jehlum to Pind Dadan Khan — Fawad’s residential area stated on the warrant — was under way against the politician.

It said that the case alleged the former PTI leader of “using political influence and buying land” for the project.

The NAB urged the judge to grant permission to implement the arrest warrant, which the court allowed, directing the Adiala jail superintendent to ensure that the suspect complied with the warrant.