KARACHI: High Court sets aside conviction in loan case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 11: The Sindh High Court allowed an appeal by a cotton mills’ chief executive on Friday and set aside his conviction by an accountability court, which had sentenced him to undergo eight years’ rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs150 million for defaulting on repayment of a bank loan.
Appellant Mian Munir, chief executive of the Central Cotton Mills, Karachi, convicted in March 2001, had moved an appeal in the SHC from the Central Prison, Karachi, through advocates Iqtidar Ali Hashmi, Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Hashmi.
He said the mills availed a loan of Rs122.722 million from the Habib Bank but the creditor bank inflated the outstanding liability to Rs306 million by charging a compound markup.
His counsel argued that apart from 15,195 cotton bales worth Rs100 million belonging to the debtor concern, the creditor bank had the custody of machinery worth Rs15 million imported by it in 1988.
The ‘inflated’ claim of the bank was pending adjudication but the accountability court proceeded to hold that the claim was admitted by the debtor concern. The court also erred in holding that the debtor never offered to settle its liabilities. They said the mills had been subjected to retrospective punishment, in that non-payment of loan did not entail criminal liability at the time the subject loan was sanctioned.
A division bench, comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, acquitted the appellant by a short order for reasons to be recorded later.
PETITION DISPOSED OF: The Sindh High Court disposed of a writ petition by two lessees of land in terms of an assurance by the KDA that no action would be taken against them otherwise than in accordance with law.
Petitioners Nosheen Khan, wife of Syed Ali Gohar Shah, and Mohammad Ishaque claimed through Advocate Muhammad Nawaz Shaikh that they were lawful lessees of four acres each at Deh Rehri, Malir.
The eight acres were initially leased out to Tajammul Islam in 1984 for 30 years for establishing a poultry farm. The original lessee transferred the land in two lots to two individuals in 1986, who surrendered it to two brothers.
The last-mentioned transferees surrendered their rights to the two petitioners in 1998.
In 1999, however, the KDA started claiming ownership of the land and allegedly attempted to dispossess the petitioners with police help. They requested the court to declare them as lawful lessees and restrain the respondent authority from dispossessing them.
The KDA counsel submitted that no action except under law would be taken against the petitioners and a division bench comprising Justices Ghulam Rabbani and S. Ali Aslam Jafri disposed of the petition accordingly.
EXCESSIVE BILLING: A division bench of High Court of Sindh, comprising Justice Muhammed Roshan Essani and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, on Friday put off hearing of a constitutional petition against excessive billing till April 15, directing the counsel to come up with reasons for huge billing, adds APP.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Afzal-ur-Rahman. The counsel for petitioner submitted that the meter was found correct and load used was also almost equal to load sanctioned.
He said when everything was correct and bills were paid regularly how come the KESC claims arrears and huge bill.
The counsel for KESC said that the matter be referred to electricity inspector. The bench took a strong exception and said why this was suggested. “Are they (KESC men) monarchs who can do anything at will”, observed the senior member of the bench.
