Salman Shahbaz told to reply by March 1

Petitioner-banks asking for auction of three units owned by the Sharif family.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued, on Wednesday, a notice to Salman Shahbaz, the son of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, for March 16 on a petition for recovery of bank loans.

The petitioner-banks have prayed that three units owned by the Ittefaq Group be auctioned off so that the Rs3 billion borrowed by the Sharif family can be recovered.

Earlier, a committee formed by the court presented its recommendations. However, the committee said that the report remained incomplete because of non-cooperation on both sides. The court on Wednesday asked the respondent to file his reply on the matter.

The National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Zarai Taraqiati Bank of Pakistan, Muslim Commercial Bank, PICIC Commercial Bank, First Punjab Mudarba and the Corporate Law Authority filed the petition in 1998.

The petitioners have prayed the court to order the auctioning off of Ittefaq Foundries, Ittefaq Textile Mills and Khalid Siraj Industries because the companies failed to fulfill the commitments regarding their loans. The LHC is hearing an intra-court appeal. It had earlier ordered that the properties be auctioned. However, the decision was challenged by Mian Meraj Din, a partner.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2012.