ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to hear a pending defamation case along with a corporate shareholding dispute to put matters in perspective, with Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan recalling whether this was the same case in which the files had earlier gone missing.

Justice Afghan, a member of a three-judge bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and also comprising Justice Mian­gul Hassan Aurangzeb, had taken up the case instituted by Green Tree Holdings Limited (GTH) regarding a shareholding dispute.

Referring to the July 14 incident, Ju­­s­tice Afghan noted that court staff had in­­formed GTH to refile the petition alo­ng with three sets of paper books since the original case files had been stolen. The case files had allegedly gone missing when, during transfer to the Supreme Court’s Principal Seat in Islamabad, the courier vehicle was robbed and the petitions stolen.

On Tuesday, Justice Afghan suggested hearing the defamation matter together with the main petition to allow the court to reach a comprehensive order.

SC judge recalls court staff asked company to refile petition after original case files were stolen

Senior counsel Shahzad Shau­k­­at, representing company director and respondent Muhammad Ziaul­lah Khan Chishti, however clarified that the files had not simply gone missing but were stolen in a robbery.

At the outset of proceedings, se­­nior cou­­nsel Ahsan Bhoon, appearing for GTH, highlighted the filing of a miscellaneous application consisting of hundreds of pages.

At this, Justice Afghan inquired whether this was the same case in which a director of the company had been removed in connection with a harassment matter, also recalling that a similar case had earlier come before his bench.

He also recalled that a related case had been filed before the Sindh High Court (SHC), in which foreign nationals were summoned to appear in person.

Justice Afghan suggested consolidating the corporate dispute with the defamation case, which had been filed by Mr Chishti against a social media campaign. A Karachi magistrate court had issued notices in the matter, though the SHC later stayed trial proceedings.

Justice Aurangzeb directed the parties to submit complete details of the company’s shareholding in writing. The case will be taken up again after three weeks.

At the last hearing on June 25, a two-judge bench comprising Just­ice Shahid Bilal Hassan and Justice Aamer Farooq had granted status quo, issued notices and directed the parties to file concise statements.

The dispute revolves around a challenge to a June 20, 2025 SHC judgement, which had allowed, with certain observations, Mr Chishti’s application under company laws.

In its order, the SHC had ruled that shares held by GTH in TRG Pakistan (respondent) were the property of TRGP, and would be deemed to have been purchased by the latter from its shareholders. The high court also directed TRGP’s Board of Directors to immediately convene an extraordinary general meeting for electing directors. After elections, the new board would decide whether to retain or cancel the treasury shares.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025