Ittefaq Group's units: LHC CJ asks body to verify credentials of foreign firm

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandiyal here on Tuesday directed the committee formed to conduct the sale of Ittefaq Group's four units to verify by May 16 the credentials of a foreign firm interested in buying the units. The Chief Justice was hearing several petitions about the sale of the Ittefaq Foundry's subsidiaries to adjust billions of rupees unpaid loan.
The Chief Justice also directed a company (Premier Property) to deposit Rs 50 million to the committee. Earlier, the court was told that Premier Property had shown interest in the sale process. The counsel for the company stated that his client wanted to buy all assets of Ittefaq Group against Rs 6.5 billion. The Chief Justice observed that it was essential to know the credentials of a foreign firm before the sell-off of national assets. The Sharif family's counsel Ashtar Ausaf stated before the court that the sale process should be completed without any further delay. He said the emergence of new interested buyers would hamper the smooth process.
The Chief Justice asked the counsel whether Hassan Nawaz, the director of Ittefaq Foundry and son of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had given his consent to the sale of these units. Ashtar said apparently Hassan Nawaz had no objection on the sale. The Chief Justice asked him to submit an NOC on behalf of Hassan.
A consortium of eight banks had sanctioned a collective loan of Rs 3.11 billion to Ittefaq Group of Industries between 1982 and 1998. In most cases the loan was not paid back and banks added the mark-up charges to the actual credit. A single bench had accepted a petition of banks for the sale of Ittefaq Foundries, Brothers Steel at Kot Lakhpat, Ittefaq Brothers at Shahdara and Ilyas Enterprises at Bund Road Lahore. These units were surrendered by Nawaz Sharif's family against bank liabilities for adjustment of loan.