PESHAWAR, June 19: A division bench of the Peshawar High Court on Thursday declared an order of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) Karachi illegal. The institute had terminated the membership of a former secretary Workers Welfare Board, Javed Anwer after he was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Shehzad Akber Khan accepted a writ petition filed by Mr Anwer and directed the institute to reissue certificate of practice to the petitioner.

Advocates Saeed Baig and Yahya Afridi appeared for the petitioner and argued that his case was not heard properly.

They said the case made by NAB had been settled and on that basis he could not be barred from private practice.

The petitioner was arrested by NAB on Aug 24, 2001 on the charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Later on, his plea was accepted by chairman NAB and he was released after paying Rs21.5 million.

Mr Anwer claimed that on April 20, 2001 the Regional Accountability  Bureau sent a letter to the president of ICA, asking him not to issue the required certificate to him.

However, he added, RAB withdrew that order on May 21, 2001.

Mr Anwer said that on May 28, 2001 secretary of ICA issued a show-cause notice to him asking him to clarify his position.

The petitioner claimed that without consulting him his name was removed from the members’ register on Jan 19, 2002.