IHC orders removal of NBP President Arif Usmani

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered the government to remove National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Arif Usmani and the bank's Chairman Board of Directors (BoD) Zubair Soomro. 

The verdict called on authorities to remove with immediate effect Usmani and Soomro from their posts.

The high court had reserved the verdict on a petition filed against the NBP president on June 2. 

A petition filed by citizens Syed Jahangir, Javed Iqbal, Fazal Raheem and Latif Qureshi contended that the NBP president's appointment was contrary to the guidelines of the Public Sector (Appointment of Chief Executive) Guidelines 2015.

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.

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 malafide intentions, adding that the petitioners were not affected by appointments.