26 October 2004	Tuesday	11 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Oct 25: The three-member committee constituted by the Lahore High Court in 1998 to dispose of the assets of the Ittefaq Group of Industries four units has nearly consumed Rs70 million during the last more than six years.

"The three-member committee comprising chartered accountant Abdul Qadeer Khwaja, NBP officer Kamran Amin and an advocate Iqbal Hameedur Rehman has been spending a sum of Rs0.7 million per month on its expenditures, which were met through the disposal of Ittefaq units assets at throwaway prices."

Engineer S.T. Hussain, Chairman Pakistan Engineers Forum and Consumer Rights Forum, and Mansoor Ali Shah advocate while questioning the working of the body and the huge spending by the committee alleged here on Monday that neither the disposal of assets was transparent nor its functioning was crystal clear.

The committee was formed by ex-judge of the Lahore High Court Malik Abdul Qayyum on July 8, 1998, when former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif announced to hand over the four units of Ittefaq Group of Industries to retire his family liabilities against the creditor banks.

The committee was entrusted with the task to dispose of four Ittefaq units namely Ittefaq Foundries, Brothers Steel at Kot Lakhpat, Ittefaq Brothers at Shahdara and Ilyas Enterprises at Bund Road. However, through a document dispatched to the NAB chairman, Mr Hussain said that this act was a gimmick played by the former premier with the nation while, in fact, he never wanted to retire his debt.

He said the ad hoc committee had been there for more than six years and spending unaccountable amount while the recoveries of the units were nothing.-PPI