Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday, ordered the removal of President and Chairman Board of Directors of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the petition filed against the appointments of NBP President and Chairman Board of Directors.
In its verdict, the court ordered the removal of Arif Usmani as President NBP and Zubair Soomro – Chairman NBP Board of Directors.
The petitions filed by Syed Jahangir, Javed Iqbal, Fazal Raheem and Latif Qureshi contented that Arif Usmani’s appointment as President NBP was in violation of guidelines of the Public Sector (Appointment of Chief Executive) Guidelines 2015 as he was charged with money laundering while serving as the managing director of Citibank Nigeria.
During the hearing, the defense counsel for Arif Usmani argued that the high court during a previous hearing that the NBP had earned impressive profits during his client’s tenure as the bank’s president.
Meanwhile, Chairman Board of Directors – Zubair Soomro’s defense team said that the petition had been filed on the basis of malafied intentions, adding that the petitioners were not affected by appointments.
However, the court noted that if a degree has no connection with a field then a judge could also be appointed as a bank head.
The court then directed Arif Usmani and Zubair Soomro to be removed as President NBM and Chairman Board of Directors respectively.
