ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered former prime minister Imran Khan’s estranged aide, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, to be released on bail in a case involving construction contracts, his brother confirmed, five months after the politician was arrested. 

Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has accused Hussain of illegally awarding construction projects, including for the Lillah-Jhelum road, in his hometown of Jhelum. He denies the charges and says the case is politically motivated. 

Hussain was arrested in November in a separate bribe case but was granted bail by an accountability court in December. However, he has remained in custody in the Jhelum construction projects’ case. 

“I thank Allah,” Hussain’s brother and Supreme Court lawyer Faisal Hussain wrote on social media platform X. “I am afraid he will be arrested in other false and frivolous FIRs. I hope courts will protect Chaudhry Fawad Hussain from illegal arrests.”

Hussain’s wife Hiba Fawad confirmed her husband had been granted bail by the high court. 

Hussain, once a close aide of the former prime minister, was among hordes of Khan associates who left his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party following May 9 riots in which angry Khan supporters allegedly attacked government buildings and military installations. 

The riots were followed by a nationwide crackdown on Khan’s aides and supporters as well as well as the PTI, which the party says continues to date and is aimed at stemming its popularity. 

Khan has been in jail since last August and has been convicted in at least four different cases, which he says are all politically motivated.