A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday observed that the court is looking into the key issue of transparency in the bidding process of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) privatisation in accordance with the constitution and law of the land.
The bench, comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Mian Sqib Nisar and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan was hearing the identical petitions, challenging HBL privatisation process. During the course of hearing, counsel for the Privatisation Commission Aitzaz Ahsan contended that HBL bidding process was carried out in transparent way and all the assets of the bank were declared in black and white prior to bidding.
Responding to a question raised by Justice Saqib Nisar, Ahsan submitted that details relating to bonds and amount of tax receivable are assets in the balance sheet of the bank after which reference price was fixed. The hearing was adjourned till November 29.