MCB Bank sale: Court issues notice to finance ministry, PC

The MCB privatisation is listed among 150 mega financial scams and NAB reported the case to the SC in June last year

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued notice to the finance ministry and the Privatisation Commission (PC) on March 15 in connection with alleged irregularities in the privatisation process of MCB Bank.

A division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb issued the notice after the petitioner, MCB Bank, made the ministry and the commission respondents in the case in compliance with earlier directions issued by the court.



On March 10, the court accepted MCB’s application seeking a restraining order against National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and its inquiry into the privatisation matter.

In the main case, MCB has sought court’s intervention to stop NAB from conducting inquiry into the bank’s privatisation issue.

At the previous hearing, Justice Farooq had remarked that the NAB’s inquiry was not against a single person but the issue was being investigated for the wrongdoings into the privatisation process.



In 1991, the PML-N led government sold 75 per cent stake in MCB Bank to Mian Mansha for Rs2.42 billion. Mansha’s consortium was not the highest bidder, but it eventually matched the price quoted by the highest bidder.

The MCB privatisation is listed among 150 mega financial scams and NAB reported the case to the Supreme Court in June last year. The apex court had ordered NAB to complete the investigation by November 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2016.