LONDON: MQM founder Altaf Hussain is set for a major showdown at the High Court in the British capital, where he will face off with his party’s former devotees after almost six years on the case of him parting ways with the MQM. shall be. Taking control of seven London properties – worth more than £10 million – from the party founder.
In the court battle, MQMP leader and federal minister Syed Aminul Haq, Voice of Karachi leader Nadeem Nusrat (former convenor of MQM under Altaf) and Tariq Mir (former confidant of Altaf) in the courtroom. The leader and assistant were seen shaking hands against each other. Control of seven luxury properties located in a posh part of North London. Farooq Sattar and Waseem Akhtar will give live video testimony against Bani Party.
Haq, on behalf of the MQMP, has filed a lawsuit against Altaf to gain control of the following properties: Abbey View in Mill Hill where Altaf lives; 1 Highview Gardens in Edgware to rent. 5 Highview Gardens in Edgware (where Iftikhar Hussain lives); 185 Witchchurch Lane in Edgware used by MQM London. 221 Whitchurch Lane in Edgware; 53 Brookfield Avenue in Mill Hill) which was sold by Altaf and Mir and the proceeds of its sale are also claimed in the claim) and the first floor Elizabeth House in Edgeware which is the MQM’s International There used to be a secretariat.
In court documents seen by JEE News, Haq (the claimant) originally filed the suit against defendants Altaf, his brother Iqbal Hussain, Mir, Muhammad Anwar, Iftikhar, Qasim Ali Raza and Euro Property Development Limited.
Former MQM Liaison Committee seniors Muhammad Anwar, who died last year, and Mir provided an affidavit to the MQM-P in support of their claim against Altaf’s defense and the MQM-P Abandoned from defending the claim.
Haq said in his claim that it is the MQM-P whose “members are beneficiaries of bare trusts and/or constructive trusts” – structures that control seven properties and derive from rental income or sale proceeds. All benefits to be had. MQMP has gone to benefit the “poor and needy people”. MQMP said that this provision of the trust has been violated.
The claimant, on behalf of MQMP, said he was seeking the removal of the trustees for himself and MQMP under the UK Trustees Act 1925 for “failure to act in good faith and or for the beneficiaries and or trusts in every material time.”
The MQMP leaders are seeking declaratory relief that the seven properties are trust assets and that Altaf and the other defendants be restrained from “misappropriating trust funds and assets” through an injunction. That the rental income and ownership of these properties be given to MQM Pakistan and that Altaf and others be held responsible for the expenses and that all funds derived from the rental income for more than two decades be returned and various The profit from the sale should be refunded. Assets
The stakes are high for both parties. If Altaf hands over control of these assets to the MQMP, he will lose it all and will lose his skin. If the MQMP loses its claim against Altaf, it will face millions of pounds in legal fees and other ramifications.
The breakaway faction of the MQMP emerged after Altaf’s controversial speech at a hunger strike camp in Karachi on 22 August 2016. The MQMP was then led by Sattar, who publicly expressed his indifference to Altaf’s speech and announced that he would run the MQM from Pakistan.
He soon announced that the MQMP had made a fundamental change in the constitution of the MQM, removing Altaf and renaming the party MQM Pakistan.
Sattar was ousted by his own faction in 2018 and taken over by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, an associate of Haq. In mid-September 2020, MQM-P (also known as MQM Bahadurabad) under the leadership of Altaf started claiming ownership of MQM’s properties in London.
Sources close to Altaf claim – and it will be Altaf’s defense in court – that the seven London properties were bought between 2001-2005 when the MQMP did not exist. Altaf’s lawyers will inform the court that the MQMP never disclosed these properties in its annual asset accounts to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The case is to be heard in two phases. The first phase will be a constitutional battle. Altaf’s MQM is relying on the 2015 constitution, but MQM disagrees with it and has its own constitution.
If the latter is successful, then a stage two hearing will be held which will revolve around the duties of the trustees, where they have used funds which should have benefited the trust.
Altaf’s supporters have appealed to the Urdu-speaking migrant community to pray for his success against those who have taken advantage of the former all his life and made him indebted to him all but let him down.
Altaf denied any misappropriation and said that the funds used to buy these properties were given to him by ordinary party workers but that the MQMP and others had waged a gang war against him for material gain. .
The MQM-P has not commented publicly on the case amid concerns that Altaf enjoys significant support among the migrant communities in Karachi.
A senior MQMP leader said off the record that Altaf is popular in staunch migrant areas and MQMP leaders are already facing tough questions from locals.
Mir has taken a neutral stance in the controversy but his statement in court is in favor of MQMP. The case will be heard in two phases and both sides are trying their best to outwit the other side.
Nusrat, a former convenor of the MQM and once very close to Altaf, condemned the MQM after the founder’s August 22 speech. However, he left Altaf in 2017 and moved permanently to America where he hosts “Voice of Karachi”. In a twist of events, he has joined the MQMP in its claims against Altaf Hussain in the property case.
Last year, the MQM founder was acquitted of a criminal case for inciting terrorism in Pakistan from British soil. The case was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but collapsed when the jury found that Altaf was not involved in terrorist acts from London to Pakistan.
MQMP is represented in the court by Barrister Nazar Muhammad. Richard Slade KC Altaf and co are representing the defendants. The court will hear the case tomorrow.
