June 08, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 7: Arif Habib Securities, a member of the consortium which purchased the Pakistan Steel Mills, has denied allegations of fraud worth Rs18.2 billion in its reply filed in the Supreme Court.

Arif Habib has also requested the apex court to reject the petition of Karachi-based businessman Iftikhar Shafi who had accused him of unfair trade practices and that he was facing civil suits of Rs18.2 billion in the Sindh High Court.

“Yes we have filed reply and it is lying with the Supreme Court,” Advocate Khalid Anwar, counsel for the bidders, told Dawn on Wednesday.

Iftikhar Shafi, chairman Diamond Group of Industries, had pleaded before the apex court to let him join as a party in the petitions against privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills as he wanted to bring on record certain facts against respondent Arif Habib.

In his reply, Mr Habib levelled counter allegations against petitioner Iftikhar Shafi and requested the court to reject his petition.

The chief executive of the Arif Habib Securities and former chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange has contended that Iftikhar Shafi had filed the petition with malafide intention only to satisfy his personal vendetta against him. The petition, he said, was replete with baseless allegations. The petitioner himself was involved in fraudulent activities and was guilty of manipulating the securities markets of Pakistan in May-June 2000.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, in its inquiry report dated August 31, 2000, had also held Iftikhar Shafi and his business associates responsible for the crisis across the country and had cancelled his membership of the Lahore Stock Exchange in addition to initiating criminal proceedings against him.