Two-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Javed Iqbal will hear Habib Bank Limited (HBL) privatisation case on Friday (December 16).
A bench headed by the same Justice has already directed Attorney General for Pakistan to submit complete record of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) and other material regarding privatisation of HBL.
Dr Akhtar Hassan - a former Federal Secretary and Barrister Zafarullah Khan on behalf of the Watan Party had filed separate petitions in the Apex Court against auction / bidding process as well as privatisation of HBL.
According to petitions, 51 per cent shares of the said bank were privatised by the Government to Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) being the highest bidder on December 29, 2003 against rupees 22.199 billion. 26 per cent shares had already been handed over to AKFED after the approval of CCOP. The remaining 25 per cent shares will be handed over to AKFED after a period of two years.
According to record submitted by the petitioners, the book value of HBL was assessed dollars 600 million. Presently, the bank has more than 18,000 depositors having a total value of cash more than rupees four billion with 1425 branches including 48 branches abroad in 26 various countries. About 14,000 employees are working with the bank now a days.