PESHAWAR, April 8: On a petition of three daughters of a former NWFP governor, late Nawabzada Abdul Ghafoor Hoti, the company judge of the Peshawar High Court on Monday directed the management of an industry, in which the former governor was a shareholder, to transfer the legal shares of the three petitioners in their names.

The petitioners — Ms Fouzia, wife of PPP provincial president, Khwaja Muhammad Khan Hoti, Ms Neelofar and Ms Sarwat — have claimed that their brothers were not willing to give them their due share in the industry — Food Processing Industries (Pvt) Limited, Peshawar — on the grounds that their culture and tradition did not allow them to give shares to females of the family.

After arguments by the petitioners’ counsel Abdur Rauf Rohaila, the judge, Abdur Rauf Lughmani directed that the register of the shareholders be rectified in accordance with the law and due share of each of the legal heirs be incorporated in the register of shares of the company. The judge added that a shareholders meeting may be convened within 21 days of the order passed.

The judge directed the deputy registrar of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan that in case the company fails to convene the shareholders meeting, he should convene it and file the requisite returns with effect from 1992 to date, as neither any meeting nor the requisite returns had been filed since 1992.

Late Ghafoor Hoti was a shareholder in the industry along with his brothers, Muhammad Amir Khan, Muhammad Khalid Khan and Muhammad Munir Khan. According to the petitioners, during his lifetime Mr Ghafoor Hoti transferred some shares in the names of the petitioners. However, after his death the sons of the deceased refused to transfer their shares in accordance with the law and claimed that according to the family custom the female members were not entitled to get any share out of the legacy of their deceased father.

Mr Rohaila argued that under the law the affairs of a joint stock company could only be run under the law and not under the prevailing customs and traditions. He stated that when the deceased Mr Hoti had transferred the shares in the name of the petitioners, the respondents were obliged to transfer the same in their name in the register of shareholders.