The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has won a long-running legal battle against its now-estranged founder Altaf Hussain over the ownership of London properties worth £10 million.
According to reports, the Insolvency and Companies Court (ICC), the properties division of the UK High Court, has ruled that MQM-P and its members are the rightful beneficiaries of the trusts controlling the properties – valued at an estimated PKR 3.4 billion (USD $12mn) – which have remained under the control of the MQM founder until now.
In his order, the judge ruled that Altaf Hussain had resigned from the party after his August 2016 speech and therefore was no longer a beneficiary.
The MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui confirmed the UK court’s decision in a press conference in Karachi, hailing it as a victory for the party.
Siddiqui said the UK court’s decision was proof that MQM-P was the “real MQM”. He said that “the properties of the martyrs” would now be used for the welfare of the people, including litigation for martyred, missing, and captive workers of the party. Siddiqui said MQM-P had decided that a part of the properties would be given to the widow of Imran Farooq, a former MQM leader who was murdered in London in 2010.
An MQM-P lawyer also participated in the press conference via video link from London, congratulating the party on the UK court’s verdict.
