ISLAMABAD, Aug 9: The Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, on Friday stayed the operation of finance ministry’s directive for the corporatization of Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan.

The CBA union of ADBP, through its secretary general Iqbal Khattack, had filed a constitutional petition challenging the government’s decision.

Justice Akhtar Shabbir, after hearing the petitioner’s counsel, Chaudhry Mohammad Ikram, decided to stay the operation of the letter for corporatization of the bank and issued notices to the State Bank of Pakistan, the finance ministry and the ADBP to submit their replies. The case will again be taken up on Aug 13.

The petitioner claimed that 3,800 employees were on the chopping block and the bank, which had earned a profit of Rs300 million last year, was being corporatized on the directives of the Asian Development Bank.

The petitioner stated that the Asian Development Bank had appointed advisors for the corporatization of the bank and one of them was an Indian.