LAHORE, April 9: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday ruled that Pakistani courts had the jurisdiction to order recovery of money from the defaulting business concerns who had wound up operations in Dubai and settled in Pakistan after losing recovery suits in Dubai courts.

Justice Hamid Farooq confirmed the judgment of Dubai courts regarding the decision of a United Bank Limited suit of UAE DHS 10.18 million against the Hajvery Textile Mills and its executives. The court observed that the defendants could not avoid the payment on grounds that they were no more carrying out operations in Dubai and had settled in Pakistan.

The court also dismissed defendants’ plea that the guarantors had already resigned from the company’s board of directors. Mere resignation from the directorship of the company does not absolve the guarantors from their liabilities to the plaintiff bank, the court ruled.

Earlier, the court inquired from the plaintiff as to how it could hear a suit which had already been heard by the courts in Dubai and related to operations carried abroad. UBL counsel barrister Syed Ali Zafar submitted that the court had the jurisdiction to hear this suit since the guarantors were now residing in Pakistan.

The counsel further argued that the suit filed in Pakistan was based on the judgment of both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal in Dubai in favour of the plaintiff bank. The suit was filed for execution of the orders of Dubai courts, he added.

According to the counsel, the defendants had closed down their business in Dubai and shifted to Pakistan without paying off their liabilities determined by the courts in Dubai.