The initial hearing into the constitutional petitions questioning the disinvestment of Habib Bank Limited in favour of Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development was adjourned here on Tuesday by the Supreme Court, without fixing a new date.
The adjournment was agreed to by the Second Bench when Muhammad Ikram, counsel for the lead petitioner Dr Akhtar Hassan Khan pointed out that the Federation had not provided certain documents connected with bank's sale.
Presided over by Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the full bench directed Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan to provide the six documents Dr Akhtar Hassan Khan had listed in his latest petition.
Other members of the Bench are Justice Rana Baghwandas and Justice Khalil-ur-Rahman Ramday.
The additional documents wanted by Dr Akhtar Hassan Khan are:
A) Statement of qualification at different stages by all 19 bidders engaged in the process of privatisation of the Bank.
B) Statement of three qualified bidders AKFED, Central Insurance Company and the State of Qatar.
C) Worksheet of A F Ferguson and Company on the determination of reserved price of Bank.
D) Copy of the Agreement signed between privatisation Commission and Aga Khan Fund.
E) Number of shares of National Bank of Pakistan, Oil and Gas Development Corporation and the Sui Southern Gas Company put up for subscription and their face value at the time of subscription and now.
F) Complete copy of the Minutes of the proceedings of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation regarding the dis-investment of the HBL and copy of recommendations of the Privatisation Commission.
Also present at the hearing was a representative of Watan Party, Lahore, saying that he was appearing for Tasneem Shaukat Khan, President of Women's Wing of the Party. Zafarullah Khan, instructed by Mehdi Khan Mehtab, Advocate on Record, filed the petition.
The new petitioner has almost identical grounds of agitation against the sale of the controlling share of the Habib Bank.
Meanwhile concise statements containing para-wise comments from the Habib Bank Limited and the AKFED have been returned to Supreme Court and are identical to the reply filed by the Federal Government on the dis-investment of the HBL.