Transparency International Pakistan has received a complaint regarding alleged corruption in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Transparency International Pakistan wrote a letter to the Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, in this regard on July 5, detailing that a complaint has been received on allegations of corruptions “according to NAO 1999, Section 9, on the allegations of corruption committed illegal appointment of Chairman and President of NBP.”

A petition was also filed in Islamabad High Court (IHC) on June 2, and later the IHC also issued directives in end-June to remove the two officials – National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President, Arif Usmani, and the bank’s Chairman Board of Directors (BoD), Zubair Soomro, – with immediate effect.

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

The petitioners argued that the president of the bank had a physics degree, contrary to the requirement of a degree in banking and finance. This made him ineligible for the post of chief executive of the bank, the petition said. ProPakistani covered the order of IHC.

The letter by Transparency International Pakistan also shared that they have received the same complaint.

However, the letter also pointed out that according to the NAO 1999, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed several corruption references against the prime ministers, ministers, and other officers and beneficiaries responsible for illegal appointments, in state-owned enterprises.

Like the decision issued by the IHC, Transparency International Pakistan also found the complaint to have merit and said, “As the appointments of Chairman NBP and President NBP were not according to laid down procedures and have been declared illegal, besides the recovery of losses inflicted on the national exchequer by way of hundreds of millions of rupee remuneration paid to Chairman and President, the Ministers/officers responsible for illegal appointments, and beneficiaries should be tried for committing corruption.”

The letter recommended that the Ministry of Finance examine the allegations, and immediately initiate measures to recover the losses, and also ensure that officers responsible are made accountable.

Source: Pro Pakistani