ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday issued notice to the federal government, in a petition seeking directions to the government not to dispose of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, and to continue its hotel business. A single bench of Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition of Muhammad Tahir, an architect.
The IHC bench also directed the federal government to submit its reply regarding its policies about the Roosevelt Hotel. At the onset of the hearing, Justice Farooq asked about the government's plans about the property. The petitioner's counsel, Tariq Asad, said that the hotel was being converted into apartments and offices.
He added that the Roosevelt Hotel had its own historical significance and US President Donald Trump also wanted to buy it. The court then issued notices to the respondents, and also directed the assistant attorney general (AAG) to apprise the bench regarding the policies of the government about the hotel.
After issuing these directions, the court deferred the hearing for one week for further proceedings. Muhammad Tahir has cited the Federation of Pakistan through the federal secretary for the Aviation Division, prime minister of Pakistan through his principal secretary, federal secretary Ministry of Law and Justice, federal secretary Ministry of Information and Technology, and secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs as respondents.
The petitioner stated that a national building in New York, US, Roosevelt Hotel was being disposed of being converted into offices and apartments etc in a clandestine manner by the present government inflicting a huge loss to the public treasury on the one hand, and injuring the feelings of Pakistanis settled in the US in particular, and the people of Pakistan in general.
He mentioned that the National Assembly had decided against the sale of the hotel in its previous meeting, saying the hotel should be run via joint ventures and the PIA Investment Limited Managing Director Najeeb Sami told that it had been decided to give Roosevelt Hotel on lease on a long-term basis.
He disclosed that the American president "is still showing interest in Roosevelt."
Tariq Asad said that in October 2020, it was announced that the hotel would be permanently closed due to continued financial losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; the final day of operation would be October 31, 2020.
According to the petition, the historic Roosevelt Hotel owned by the Pakistan International Airlines has caught the eye of United States President Donald Trump, who wants to buy the luxury property located in Manhattan borough of New York.
It added that in a briefing to the National Assembly Committee on Privatization, the PIA officials said that the US had shown interest in the purchase of the hotel some time ago and was still interested in buying the hotel.
The petitioner further said according to the PIA official, the hotel had been generating profits for almost a century, but the last year was bad for business as it incurred a loss of $1.5 million.
He said that the PIA was not in a condition to run the hotel on its own, adding that it should be replaced with offices and hotels. It maintained that currently, the PIA owns 99 per cent shares in the hotel, while the other one per cent was owned by Saudis.
The offer from Trump is not surprising at all, as the billionaire-turned-president already owns seven luxury hotels and several resorts and clubs in a number of major cities across the US.
The petitioner prayed before the court that the respondent No 1 (Secretary Aviation) may be directed to place the whole record of the Roosevelt Hotel including its accounts, its profits earned till the closure of the hotel in chronological order, the reasons of its closure, the people involved in the transactions, and the meetings and minutes of the Cabinet about Roosevelt Hotel and all other documents conducive to it.
He also requested the court to direct the respondents not to dispose of the Roosevelt Hotel and to continue the hotel business after renovation of the movables, furniture and other paraphernalia, if need be, but be restrained not to demolish and change the nature of business which may, otherwise, cost huge expenditure and may take a long time to extend the new business.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020