Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court orders criminal charges against The Resource Group (TRG) management to proceed with the further order for the TRG Chairman Mohammed Khaishgi and CEO Hasnain Aslam to appear before the court.

The Sindh High Court ruling follows an earlier ruling by the District and Sessions Court in Karachi in February 2023, ordering criminal defamation charges against the management and board of Bermuda-based TRG International to proceed. The charges were brought by former TRG Pakistan CEO Zia Chishti challenging defamatory statements made against him in a letter written by TRG International to its parent, TRG Pakistan.

After having been ordered by the District Court to appear, the defendants approached the Sindh High Court and received a stay order that blocked the District Court from proceeding. After a twenty-month delay, the Sindh High Court vacated its stay and ordered the proceedings against the defendants to continue in the District Court. The next hearing in the District Court is set for November 16, at which the defendants will have to appear or face arrest warrants.

Several of the defendants have now approached the Supreme Court seeking a further stay of the proceedings. Legal experts say that such a further stay is unlikely given the ruling of the Sindh High Court that TRG’s leadership was attempting to bypass the proper legal process by filing revision applications directly with the high court. Citing legal precedent, the court stated that all such grievances should first be heard in the appropriate trial court.

The criminal defamation proceedings in Karachi are part of a broader set of legal proceedings between Mr. Chishti and TRG’s present leadership, including dueling arbitrations filed against each other in the United States.

When asked for comment, Mr. Chishti stated: “TRG and its present management have taken millions of dollars out of the company for themselves while overseeing a collapse in the business. The company’s most prized asset, Afiniti, is now in insolvency in Bermuda. The company’s stock price is down over 70% while at the same time the Pakistani market is up 70%. The company is covering up sexual harassment allegations against its CEO Hasnain Aslam. The Company has not held an AGM of shareholders or had its accounts approved in three years. What was once Pakistan’s premier technology business has been ruined. Let’s see what how company’s shareholders vote in January when, after three years of disaster under this team, board elections are finally due.”

Mr. Aslam and Mr. Khaishgi both declined to comment.
TRG is the largest technology exporter from Pakistan, with nearly $100 million in annual exports and 8,000 employees in Pakistan.