The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s main anti-graft agency, has issued a call-up under which NAB summons Asad Mahmood, the former federal minister for communications and postal services, to appear before a Combined Investigation Team next Tuesday. The notice, dated Monday, directs him to Civic Centre, G-6, Islamabad, on November 10, 2026, to record his statement on alleged irregularities in Pakistan Post Office Department hiring in 2022 and 2023, when he held the portfolio.
Alleged recruitment irregularities
NAB says it is examining claims of illegal appointments during that tenure, including hiring against abolished posts, breaches of government instructions, and selection of candidates on forged papers. According to the notice, the Establishment Division had allowed Pakistan Post to fill 3,938 vacancies, while recruitment was allegedly carried out against 4,252 posts—314 more than the approved total.
The bureau further alleges that appointments were made against 2,646 abolished posts in defiance of a Cabinet committee’s instructions. It also questions the hiring method: although the director general of Pakistan Post had recommended contract recruitment through a testing agency, a large number of appointments were allegedly made on a regular basis without clear justification, which NAB says could add to the department’s financial burden. Other claims in the inquiry include overage candidates and violations of domicile quotas.
Summons dates and warning
NAB summons Asad Mahmood before Investigation Wing-I’s Combined Investigation Team to answer these allegations. The notice warns that failure to comply may bring penal action under Section 31 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, the law that sets NAB’s powers and penalties.
Separately, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) anti-corruption circle in Islamabad—another federal probe body—also summoned him over the same Pakistan Post recruitment case, directing him to appear on November 2 at 11am. Unofficial accounts have additionally said anti-graft inquiries around him have widened to spending described as emergency maintenance, revenue-collection losses, and constituency-linked projects; those claims have not been detailed in the NAB call-up notice itself. Some accounts have also linked the timing of the NAB move to recent criticism of the government by his father, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman; NAB has not confirmed any such political motive.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2022–2023: Period covered by the alleged Pakistan Post recruitment irregularities while Asad Mahmood was communications minister.
- Monday (call-up notice): NAB issues a notice summoning him to its Combined Investigation Team.
- November 2, 2026, 11am: FIA Islamabad anti-corruption circle directs him to record a statement in the same recruitment probe.
- November 10, 2026: Date fixed for his appearance before NAB’s Combined Investigation Team at Civic Centre, G-6, Islamabad.
Aasan alfaaz mein
NAB ne pehle communications minister Asad Mahmood ko Islamabad bulaya hai. Unhein 10 November ko Pakistan Post ki bhartion ke ilzamon par bayan dena hai. Ilzaam hai ke ijazat se zyada seats bhari gayeen aur kuch qawaid tootay. Agar who notice par naheen aate to qanooni karwai ho sakti hai.
