All that glitters . . .: ‘Impure gold delayed daughters’ marriages’

Shop owner says he is being blackmailed, alleges his brothers were beaten up.

LAHORE:

A consumer court issued a notice to a gold shop owner on Friday for May 2 in a suit seeking Rs1 million as damages for the sale of substandard gold to a man who said the low gold quality had forced him to postpone his two daughters’ marriages.

Petitioner Khalid Rasheed said he had purchased gold from Akbar Sons Gold Shop for the marriage of his two daughters. He said he paid the owners Imran Khan and Adil Khan Rs267,000 for 5 tolas, 5 grams and 700 milligrams of gold at the rate of Rs48,000 for 22-carat gold.

Rasheed said he had taken the gold to some other shops to confirm that it was the right quality. He said he had been told that the gold was impure. When he went back to Imran Khan, he said, the owner told him to get the gold checked from a laboratory.

Rasheed said the laboratory analysis on the gold revealed that 8-carat gold was used in one of the bangles, 9-carat in another and 11-carat in a necklace. He said the respondents refused to entertain his complaint.

The petitioner said his family had been humiliated in front of their relatives and marriages of his daughters had to be delayed. He prayed the court to direct the respondents to pay Rs1 million as damages and replace the 5 tolas, 5 gram and 700 milligrams gold he had been sold. The court issued a notice to the respondents for May 2.

Imran Khan told The Express Tribune that the allegations against him were false. He said the petitioner was a retired police official and that he was trying to blackmail him.

He said the petitioner still owed him Rs42,400 on the purchase of the gold. He said a few days ago Rasheed had asked him to come to his house to collect the amount. He said he sent his brothers, Adil and Umair, who were beaten up by six men including some police officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2012.