PESHAWAR, Aug 4: The Pakistan Muslim League filed a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday challenging the appointment of the Managing Director of the Bank of Khyber by the MMA-led government.

"We have challenged the appointment of the Managing Director of the Bank of Khyber (BoK), because his PhD degree is fake and he does not have the required qualification," said Mozam Butt advocate, member of the central working committee of the ruling PML, while addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club here on Wednesday.

Flanked by Intikhab Khan advocate, Zakaria Khan and others, he said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) government had started manipulating the bank's affairs and feared that the sole bank owned by the Frontier province could turn bankrupt.

The BoK established in 1991 under an NWFP Assembly Bill, had Rs19 billion assets, which were at stake, he alleged. According to him, the MMA government was using the bank to gain political gains, which would ultimately result in the bankruptcy of the BoK.

"There are certain laws required to be followed regarding appointments in the BoK, but the MMA government has set aside rules and appointed the people of its choice without fulfilling the prescribed rules," he said.

He alleged that NWFP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq who holds the portfolio of finance minister, was running the bank. The NWFP government, he said, had ignored the request of the provincial chief secretary, in which he had asked for a probe into matters of the bank.

Mr Siraj, who directly supervised the bank, was presenting wrong figurers about the bank to misguide the people, he asserted. The PML's leader said that it was high time that the MMA government took into task all those involved in malpractice and save the hard-earned money of the people from being embezzled. He also demanded removal of the BoK's managing director and an inquiry into its affairs.