Sharif family case: Judge recuses himself
Justice Abid said there was a conflict of interest as he had represented Nawaz Sharif in a case 15 years ago.
LAHORE:
A division bench of the Lahore High Court has referred the Sharif family loan case to the chief justice after a member of the bench recused himself. Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh withdrew from the case, saying that there was a conflict of interest as he had represented Nawaz Sharif in a case 15 years ago. The petition was filed by a consortium of banks seeking to recover loans of some Rs3 billion from Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif. The National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Zarai Taraqiati Bank of Pakistan, Muslim Commercial Bank, PICIC Bank, First Punjab Mudarba and Corporate Law Authority moved the petition in 1998, asking that Ittefaq Foundries, Ittefaq Textile Mills and Khalid Siraj Industries be sold off, as they were the collateral for the loans. The LHC had ordered the these units to be auctioned, but the decision was challenged by Mian Meraj Din, a shareholder in the Ittefaq Group and Nawaz Sharif’s uncle, on the grounds that the auction was in violation of Section 284 of the Companies Ordinance. The Sharif family had offered to surrender Ittefaq Foundries, Ittefaq Brothers and Brother Steel Mills to the consortium as loan repayment, but the petitioners demanded payment in cash.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2013.
A division bench of the Lahore High Court has referred the Sharif family loan case to the chief justice after a member of the bench recused himself. Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh withdrew from the case, saying that there was a conflict of interest as he had represented Nawaz Sharif in a case 15 years ago. The petition was filed by a consortium of banks seeking to recover loans of some Rs3 billion from Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif. The National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Zarai Taraqiati Bank of Pakistan, Muslim Commercial Bank, PICIC Bank, First Punjab Mudarba and Corporate Law Authority moved the petition in 1998, asking that Ittefaq Foundries, Ittefaq Textile Mills and Khalid Siraj Industries be sold off, as they were the collateral for the loans. The LHC had ordered the these units to be auctioned, but the decision was challenged by Mian Meraj Din, a shareholder in the Ittefaq Group and Nawaz Sharif’s uncle, on the grounds that the auction was in violation of Section 284 of the Companies Ordinance. The Sharif family had offered to surrender Ittefaq Foundries, Ittefaq Brothers and Brother Steel Mills to the consortium as loan repayment, but the petitioners demanded payment in cash.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2013.