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ISLAMABAD: As the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to resume hearing on the high-profile One Constitution project on Monday, intriguing new facts have surfaced in the court record, including a 2012 interim arbitration award issued by incumbent Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and a former chamber president to resolve disputes between two main partners.
The arbitration award, dated September 13, 2012, was issued by Khawaja Asif and Mian Hamid Javed, former president of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The agreement was meant to settle differences between Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of M BNP and Nadeem Zia Pirzada of M/s Paragon regarding the five-star hotel project.
According to the settlement placed on record, the parties agreed that BNP’s ownership would ultimately be 75 per cent with Sheikh and 25 per cent with Pirzada, subject to a forensic audit to determine financial contributions, loans and liabilities.
Interestingly, the award records that bank loans taken by Sheikh and his family for the hotel project were secured against Pirzada’s family properties in Paragon City, and were to be treated as Pirzada’s contribution.
