London: In one of the most shocking judgments that MQM-P would not have desired, the Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom has reversed a previous judgment that had been in favor of the party in a property dispute involving its leader, Altaf Hussain. The turning point in the continuous legal struggle came when the appeal Altaf Hussain filed against a judgment by which he lost six London properties estimated at about £10 million was won.
Altaf Hussain appealed the first verdict of ICC Judge Clive Jones; he claimed that his leadership of MQM was unrightfully seized by Dr. Farooq Sattar and other leaders from Karachi after his provocative speech in August 2016. The Court of Appeal knew mistakes in the initial decision and remanded the matter back to the High Court to investigate changes to MQM’s constitution.
Essentially, the judges highlighted with regard to Altaf Hussain, the founder and the head of MQM, that he had to leave Pakistan for security reasons since the grenade attack in Karachi in 1991. They reinforced claims that MQM-P was created under duress during the military operation against the original MQM.
It was a case filed four years ago in the UK High Court by Syed Aminul Haque who represented MQM-P and involved allegations of mismanagement of trust at the hands of Altaf Hussain and other defendants regarding failure to properly account for property income as well as alleged misuse of assets. Two individuals who used to be in MQM but are now against Altaf, including Nadeem Nusrat and Dr. Farooq Sattar, were testifying for MQM-P in court.
In the defense, Altaf Hussain argued that MQM-P was formed in a rush amid threats and tried to falsely present itself as the legal successor of MQM to the electoral commission. The court of appeal’s ruling to set aside the previous judgment means a turning point in the lengthy and contentious legal battle, with potential ramifications for the ownership and management of substantial assets related to MQM and its leadership and organizational changes.
