The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of National Bank of Pakistan President Arif Usmani and Board of Directors Chairman Zubair Soomro.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani announced the verdict Tuesday, which had been reserved by the high court on June 2. The verdict called on authorities to remove with immediate effect, Usmani and Soomro, from their posts.
The high court had reserved the verdict on June 11.
Earlier, the petitioners Syed Jahangir, Javed Iqbal, Fazal Raheem and Latif Qureshi had contended that the NBP president’s appointment was against the Public Sector Guidelines 2015, while Usmani did not hold a relevant degree.
The petitioners had argued that Usmani did not hold a degree in banking and finance while on the contrary, he was had a physics degree. The petitioners had argued that it made him ineligible for the post of chief executive officer of the NBP for life.
Usmani’s counsel had informed the high court during a previous hearing that the NBP had earned impressive profits during his client’s tenure as the bank’s president.
The court remarked that if a degree has no connection with a field then a judge could also be appointed as a bank head.
Soomro’s lawyer, on the other hand, had argued that the petition had been filed on the basis of malafied intentions, adding that the petitioners were not affected by appointments.
With additional input from APP
