ISLAMABAD: A textile unit owned by senior Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Inamullah Niazi and his two brothers – Hafeezullah Niazi and Irfanullah Niazi – is defaulter of the Allied Bank of Pakistan (ABL) to the tune of Rs71.641 million, and the Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued a decree in the bank’s favour, ordering auction of the property to recover the outstanding loan.
The three brothers are directors of the defaulting M/s Hura (Pvt) Ltd, 41 Civic Centre, New Garden Town, Lahore, documents available with The News show.
On November 14, 2012, LHC judge Ayesha A. Malik appointed ‘with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties Harvester Service Company as evaluator to make assessment of all the assets available at the site subject to payment of Rs35,000’.
The company was directed that ‘evaluation report shall be submitted within three weeks.’
When approached for comments, Shahid Ikram Siddiqui, the counsel for M/s Hura (Pvt) Ltd, confirmed that the LHC has passed a decree against his clients in the Rs71.641 loan default case.
He said the ABL has filed an execution petition for implementation this decree. His clients have filed an appeal against the LHC decision in the Supreme Court, which is pending, he said.
The lawyer also confirmed that the LHC has appointed the Harvester Services Company as evaluator for determination of value of property of Hura Pvt Ltd. Once the evaluator would submit its report to the LHC, the M/s Hura (Pvt) Ltd and ABL will be called by it to raise objections, he said, adding that if the objections were not sustainable, the property will be auctioned.
He said only the plot, submitted as guarantee against the loan, and not the textile unit, will be auctioned.
When contacted, ABL’s lawyer Ashar Elahi told The News that the Niazi brothers were not returning the loan despite LHC decree in favour of the bank. “We have moved an execution petition but the opponent party is using delaying tactics as it has asked the bank for settlement for many times but it later backtracked. Through these means, it has gained a plenty of time.”
When asked whether he knows that the Niazi brothers are the cousins of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the ABL lawyer said: “Yes, I know everything.” He said that the evaluator has not so far filed its report with the LHC within the given time. “We are waiting for it.”
When contacted, M/s Hura (Pvt) Ltd Chief Executive Irfanullah Niazi confirmed the loan default case but said the appeal against the LHC decision was pending in the Supreme Court. He disputed that the LHC has ordered auction of properties of the textile unit. He said that someone must have made a miscalculation about the possible auction.
Hafeezullah Niazi, who is brother-in-law of Imran Khan, was first reluctant to talk on the subject as he was very angry over another story in this newspaper, which unearthed Rs162 million loan default by another company, owned by him.
He kept on threatening that he would issue a legal notice to the paper for that report. However, later he said that he has no concern with the Hura Pvt Ltd. When told that his name figures among its directors as per official papers including those filed by the company in the LHC and the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), he said his name is wrongly written there.
In response to a text message, Inamullah Niazi promised to talk to The News but later decided to avoid it. Countless calls were made to his cell phone over the past four days, but he did not attend it.
However, documents available with The News show that Hura (Pvt) Ltd borrowed Rs36 million from the ABL in 1997. As it failed to return the loan amount, the bank filed a recovery suit in the LHC. Justice Hamid Ali Shah decided the case against the Naizi brothers and in favour of the ABL.
“In view of what has been discussed above, the suit of the plaintiff” (ABL) “is decreed for recovery of Rs71.641 million in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants” (Niazi brothers) “jointly and severally, along with costs and costs of funds. This suit shall automatically stand converted into execution proceedings without the need to file a separate application and no fresh notice need be issued to the judgment debtor in this regard. The proceedings for execution will commence if the defendants fail to pay the decreed amount within a period of one month,” Justice Shah ruled on July 24, 2006.
Later on March 4, 2009, LHC judge Justice Mian Saqib Nisar (now in the Supreme Court) dismissed the objections raised by the M/s Hura (Pvt) Ltd to the court proceedings for execution of the July 24, 2006 decree, and ruled that the mortgaged property including the machinery hypothecated with the ABL be attached and warrant of attachment be accordingly issued and executed.
The company filed an appeal against the decree before a division bench of the LHC. It was also rejected by Justice Azmat Saeed (now judge of the Supreme Court) and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah in May 2011. The judges did not accept the plea of the M/s Hura (Pvt) Ltd for condoning delay in filing the appeal.
The property mortgaged with the ABL is four Kanals of land, situated at Muaza Bhobatian on Raiwind Road along with the machinery of the textile unit, according to the documents and court record of the case.
When the company availed this loan, Inamullah Niazi was member of the National Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). His MNA card is attached with the loan documents.
According to the SECP record, Irfanullah having the usual residential address’ of B-1 Azeem St Mohallah Sherman-Khail Mianwali, holds identity card number 38302-8206075-7 while Hafeezullah having ‘usual residential address’ of 2-Zaman Park, Upper Mall, Lahore, possesses identity card number 35201-8589732-7.
Hafeezullah was extremely incensed over a recent report in this newspaper which, based on documents, said that he is a loan defaulter and his company, Knit Knot (Pvt) Limited, dealing in textile products, owes over Rs162 million to the Faysal Bank as per a decree issued by the LHC. The bank has filed a petition in the LHC, seeking execution of the decree for recovery of the outstanding amount. At the time, Niazi told The News that his loan was written off in 2007 and emphasised that he was not the only beneficiary of this policy of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), introduced through Circular No.29 issued on October 15, 2002. Some 17,000 loans were settled under this scheme, he claimed, adding he won the case from the LHC where a petition filed by the bank for execution of the decree in its favour and against him was dismissed on December 1, 2008.
On Jan 7, a story filed by reporter Umar Cheema said that Inamullah Niazi has been embroiled in a controversy over illegal occupation of a house in Lahore’s posh area for 16 years and is now reluctant to vacate it despite repeated court orders. Shahid Ibrahim, co-owner of the house, has lodged a complaint with the PTI chairman against his cousin and this new entrant into the party, Inamullah, whose occupation dates back to the days he was affiliated with the PML-N. According to this story, Irfanullah has been accused of actively supporting his brother Inamullah in the occupation of the house through filing petitions that were rejected twice.
