Pakistan's top real estate firm to contest court ruling as anti-graft body plans property auction

Arab News

5 days ago

KARACHI: Pakistan's leading real estate company will challenge a court ruling clearing the way for the auction of six of its properties, its lawyer said on Wednesday, as the country's anti-graft body pushes ahead with a high-profile crackdown involving one of the nation's most powerful business tycoons.
The Islamabad High Court dismissed a petition by Bahria Town a day earlier against the planned auction of its properties by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Shortly after the court issued its short order, NAB announced the auction would proceed as planned on August 7 at its Islamabad office.
'We are going to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court today,' Farooq H. Naik, counsel for Bahria Town, told Arab News.
The six properties up for auction include one in Islamabad and five in Rawalpindi. NAB said the sale aims to recover unpaid amounts from a settlement deal linked to the £190 million case involving Malik Riaz Hussain, the founder of Bahria Town.
Hussain has spoken publicly for months about being pressured due to 'political motives' and facing financial losses as NAB opens cases against his property development projects across Pakistan.
While he has not explicitly named who was pressuring him or why, media and analysts widely speculate the crackdown relates to the Al-Qadir Trust case, which involves accusations Khan and his wife, during his premiership from 2018-2022, were given land by Hussain as a bribe in exchange for illegal favors.
In January, a court sentenced Khan to 14 years imprisonment in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
In 2019, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said Hussain had agreed to hand over £190 million held in Britain to settle a UK investigation into whether the money was from the proceeds of crime.
The agency said the assets would be passed to the government of Pakistan and the settlement with Hussain was 'a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt.'
The case made against Hussain and ex-PM Khan was that instead of putting the tycoon's settlement money in Pakistan's treasury, Khan's government used the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Hussain, who hasn't appeared before an anti-graft agency to submit his reply to summons issued to him, has denied any wrongdoing. Khan and his wife have also pleaded innocence.
During Tuesday's court proceedings, according to Dawn newspaper, Naik argued the auction notice was 'illegal, deceptive and issued with mala fide intent,' saying Bahria Town was neither part of any plea bargain nor named as an accused in any reference relating to the UK-originated case.
He warned the move could severely damage investor confidence in Pakistan's real estate sector.
However, NAB prosecutor Rafay Maqsood told the court Bahria Town's legal team had previously lost a similar case in a lower court before approaching the high court, which granted a temporary stay on June 12, the day the auction was originally scheduled. NAB later moved to have the stay vacated.
The development marks another escalation in the legal troubles facing Hussain, widely regarded for years as Pakistan's most influential businessman, known for close ties with political, media and military elites.
On Tuesday, Hussain said in a statement on social media platform X his property empire was on the brink of collapse due to what he termed a politically motivated crackdown. He claimed Bahria Town's bank accounts had been frozen, vehicles seized and dozens of employees arrested, forcing a near shutdown of operations.
'The situation has reached a point where we are being forced to completely shut down all Bahria Town activities across Pakistan,' Hussain said. 'We apologize to the residents and stakeholders of Bahria Town.'
Earlier this year in January, NAB put out a public notice cautioning people against investing in Hussain's new real estate venture to build luxury apartments in Dubai:
'If the general public at large invests in the stated project, their actions would be tantamount to money laundering, for which they may face criminal and legal proceedings.'
In his X post on Tuesday, Hussain appealed to state institutions to adopt a more conciliatory approach.
'I make a final appeal from the bottom of my heart for a chance to return to serious dialogue and a dignified resolution. For this purpose, we assure you of our full participation in any arbitration process and our commitment to implementing its decision 100 percent. I also assure you that if the arbitration decision requires payment of money from our side, we will ensure its payment.'
Bahria Town, founded in the late 1990s, is one of Pakistan's largest private employers and a major developer of luxury housing schemes across the country. Over the years, the company has been the subject of multiple investigations over illegal land acquisitions and unauthorized development but has continued to operate.