The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday ordered the removal of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Arif Usmani and the bank’s Chairman Board of Directors (BoD) Zubair Soomro with immediate effect.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani announced the ruling reserved by the court earlier this month on a petition filed against the appointment of Usmani.
Petitioners – Syed Jahangir, Javed Iqbal, Fazal Raheem and Latif Qureshi – argued that the appointment of NBP president was made in violation of the guidelines of the Public Sector (Appointment of Chief Executive) Guidelines 2015.
Informing the court that Usman holds degree in physics instead of any banking and finance, the petitioner argued that it made him ineligible for the post for life.
A counsel for the NBP president, in a previous hearing, told court that the NBP made impressive earnings during the tenure of Usmani.
Soomro’s lawyer, on the other hand, contended that petition is based on malafide intentions, adding that the petitioners were not affected by the appointment of the officers.
