Bank loan: Court clears way for sale of Ittefaq Group units

LAHORE:

A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed an intra court appeal challenging an order allowing the auction of four units of Ittefaq Group to pay back Rs3 billion loans.

The division bench comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Shehzada Mazhar dismissed the appeal filed by Ilyas Meraj. The appeal was dismissed on the grounds that Meraj had been unable to produce evidence of being a stakeholder in the Ittefaq Group’s affairs.

Previously, a single bench had accepted a petition by the National Bank of Pakistan and other banks seeking to sell Ittefaq Foundries, Brothers Steel at Kot Lakhpat, Ittefaq Brothers at Shahdara and Ilyas Enterprises on Bund Road Lahore.

These units had been surrendered to adjust loans the group had not paid back on time. Ilyas Meraj and some other shareholders had challenged the auction saying that it violated the Companies Ordinance as they had not been taken on board.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2014.