Petition seeking auction of Ittefaq Group units put off

LAHORE: Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday put off until December 14 the hearing of a petition filed by a consortium of banks, seeking permission to wind up three Ittefaq Group units to recover Rs 3 billion loans. The judge directed the petitioners and the respondents Sharif family to give recommendations by the next hearing for the sale of the units. The petition was pending with the court since 1998 and it was taken up after the petitioners, including National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited, United Bank Limited, Zarai Taraqiati Bank of Pakistan, Muslim Commercial Bank, PICIC Bank, First Punjab Mudarba and Corporate Law Authority, moved the court for early hearing of the petition. The petitioners sought the court’s order for the recovery of loans through auction of Ittefaq Foundries, Ittefaq Textile Mills and Khalid Siraj Industries as they had failed to fulfill their financial commitments. Earlier, the LHC had ordered the sale of these units; however, Mian Meraj Din, Nawaz Sharif’s uncle and a shareholder in Ittefaq Group, challenged the decision on the ground that the auction of the said units was in violation of Section 284 of the Companies Ordinance. The four units were handed over by the Sharif family to the petitioners to adjust the loans, but the banks had rejected the offer and demanded payment in cash. staff report