ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Asad Meh­­mood, son of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Reh­­man, on Friday skipped the second notice issued by the National Accountabi­li­­ty Bureau (NAB) and did not appear before its investigation team in a case involving alleged irregularities in appointments during his tenure as a federal minister in 2022-23.

A source in the bureau told Dawn that as Asad Mehmood had not complied with the first notice issued on Nov 10, the NAB Rawalpindi/Islamabad Regional Office had served him a second notice, asking him to appear before its team on Friday. “How­ever, Asad Mehmood def­ied the second summons and did not visit the NAB office,” the source added.

According to sources, the anti-graft watchdog will soon serve a third notice on the former minister and, in case he ignores it, NAB could take stern action, including his arrest.

In such cases, NAB usually serves second and third notices on the accused and, if all three are ignored, the anti-graft watchdog takes punitive action, including the arrest of the accused.

Under the NAB notice, Asad Mehmood was req­uired to appear before the investigators to explain his position on alleged irregularities in 4,252 appointments at Pakistan Post during his 2022-23 tenure as federal minister.

Asad Mehmood had served as a federal minister during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government in 2022-23.