Islamabad, Jun 25 (IANS): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be grounding nearly 150 out of its 426 pilots, amid an inquiry that they hold "dubious" licences, a company spokesman said.

On Wednesday, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots, out of total 860 in the country, have suspicious flying licences and would be grounded immediately, reports The Express Tribune.

Talking to the media in Islamabad, he said licences of these pilots are dubious.

The Minister stated that there are some pilots, who did not appear in any paper but managed to get the licences.

He informed that the government has decided that all such pilots would be issued show cause notices and charge sheets so that they could not fly any plane.

Sarwar said criminal proceedings would also be initiated against pilots with fake licences as the government could not allow anyone to put the lives of its citizens at risk.

The decision comes at a time when an initial inquiry into a PIA plane crash was presented before the parliament by the country's aviation minister, who also highlighted irregularities at the national carrier.

A PIA Airbus A320 crashed on May 22 in Karachi, killing 97 of the 99 people on board.