Court tells Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif family to pay Rs 350 crore mark-up on loan

LAHORE: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members have been directed by a court here to pay mark-up of Rs 350 crore on a loan their companies had obtained from a consortium of banks over 30 years ago.

A two-member division bench of Lahore High Court yesterday directed the Sharif family to pay Rs 350 crore and adjourned the hearing for next date to be fixed by its office.

Eight banks including the National Bank of Pakistan had sanctioned a collective loan of Rs 351 crore to Ittefaq Group of the Sharif family between 1982 and 1998, but the family failed to return it.

In most cases the loan was not paid back and the banks added the mark-up charges to the actual credit.

A lawyer representing the consortium comprising National Bank of Pakistan and other financial institutions informed the court that the basic loan amounting to Rs 600 crore had been recovered after selling Ittefaq Group's four units, but the mark-up was yet to be realised.

He pleaded the court to direct the Ittefaq Group of the Sharif family to pay the mark-up without any further delay.

Earlier, Lahore High Court's single bench had accepted a petition of National Bank of Pakistan and other banks seeking sale of Ittefaq Foundries, Brothers Steel at Kot Lakhpat, Ittefaq Brothers at Shahdara and Ilyas Enterprises owned by the Sharif family.

These units were surrendered by the family of Nawaz Sharif against bank liabilities for adjustment of loan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf chairman and cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan said Nawaz Sharif had used his political influence to avoid paying off the bank loans for decades.

"Nawaz used to buy every one who matters to save his skin from the clutches of law," Khan said, who had been holding a sit-in in Islamabad for the last 80 days or so to press Sharif to resign in order to hold a transparent investigation into the rigging allegations in 2013 elections.