NAB summons JUI-F chief's son over Pakistan Post appointments
Maulana Asad Mahmood, communications minister in the 2022-23 coalition, must appear before investigators on November 10; the FIA has issued a separate summons.
The National Accountability Bureau has summoned Maulana Asad Mahmood, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader and former federal minister for communications, to answer questions about appointments made at the Pakistan Post Office during his time in the ministry.
The bureau's notice directs him to appear before its investigation team at 11am on November 10, Geo News reported.
Mahmood is the son of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He was given the communications portfolio in the coalition government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was removed through a no-confidence motion in April 2022, and held the ministry through 2022 and 2023.
According to the notice, the Establishment Division had authorised recruitment against 3,938 vacancies at Pakistan Post. Geo News reported that the bureau alleges 4,252 people were recruited, more than the approved number of positions. The notice also alleges that appointments were made against 2,646 vacancies that had been abolished, in violation of instructions issued by a cabinet committee.
The bureau says posts were filled on a permanent basis although recruitment had been recommended on contract through a testing agency. The allegations listed in the notice include the use of fake and bogus documents, the hiring of candidates above the age limit and violations of the domicile quota.
NAB warned in the notice that failure to comply with the summons could lead to proceedings under Section 31 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.
The reports carried no comment from Mahmood or from JUI-F on either summons.
A second inquiry is running alongside the bureau's. The Federal Investigation Agency's anti-corruption circle in Islamabad issued its own summons to the former minister, directing him to appear on November 2 at 11am to record a statement in its investigation into alleged irregularities and corruption in recruitment at Pakistan Post during his tenure.
How the reports differ
Geo News carried the specifics of the NAB notice: 3,938 approved vacancies against 4,252 recruitments, 2,646 abolished posts filled, the 11am appearance on November 10 and the reference to Section 31 of the National Accountability Ordinance. Daily Pakistan's headline paired the NAB and FIA summonses together, a link only Geo's copy set out in detail. Samaa's headline identified the subject through his father, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and called the matter a "scandal"; Geo led on his own position as former communications minister and on the appointments themselves.
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