A Pakistani court here has reserved its order on an appeal by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family challenging an earlier judgement to auction four units of their company for not paying back a loan of Rs 3 billion.
Eight banks, including the National Bank of Pakistan, had sanctioned a collective loan of Rs 3.1 billion to Ittefaq Group of Industries between 1982 and 1998 but it failed to return it. As the loan was not paid back and the banks added the markup charges to the credit as well.
A division bench of the Lahore High Court comprising justices Ayesha A Malik and Shehzada Mazhar yesterday reserved the order after arguments of all parties were concluded.
Earlier, a single bench of the same court had accepted a petition of the National Bank of Pakistan and other banks seeking sale of Ittefaq Foundries, Brothers Steel at Kot Lakhpat, Ittefaq Brothers at Shahdara and Ilyas Enterprises owned by the Sharif family.
These units were surrendered by the Sharif family against bank liabilities for adjustment of loan. However, they challenged the auction later, saying it was in violation of the Companies Ordinance.
