Daily Times

HYDERABAD: The battle to establish ‘who is the boss’ has often turned ugly as seen with the conflicts emerged amongst the members of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) after recent elections to elect new president a month ago.

According to a press release issued by the secretary of HCCI, the newly elected president Ikram Rajput resigned due to preoccupations.

The press release further said that his resignation was accepted by 16 members of the total 24 members of executive committee, which later appointed Shahid Soomro as new president.

The press release revealed the names of 16 members including the senior vice-president Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Shahid Soomro, Haji Iftikhar Arain, Syed Yawar Shah, Muhammad Adnan Khan, Khalid Umar Malik, Mazharul Haq Chowdhry, Abdul Hamid Qureshi, Yawar Ali Shah, Haji Mumtaz, Rafiq Qadri, Khatri Rasool Bux Taj, Abdul Qadir Soharwardy, Muhammad Tariq Shaikh, Muhammad Saleem Shaikh, Saleem Hussain Vohra, Sikendar Dhandori and Fahd Hussain.

However, the HCCI vice-president refuted the press release’s claim and revealed that a group under the influence of former president Seth Goharullah manipulated and hatched a conspiracy against HCCI while the president Ikram Rajput has not resigned.

Later, the HCCI vice-president Iqbal Beg held a press conference at Hyderabad press club and falsified the press release’s claim.

He criticised the former president Goharullah for conspiring against HCCI to cause split and divide amongst its members.

He further accused Goharullah of malpractices and misappropriating Rs 29 million from the funds of chamber, the amount that was donated to the chamber, but was spent his lavish lifestyle.

“Following a tussle between two rival groups within HCCI, the police seized the chamber,” he said adding that the members sought lawyers’ consultation and support through judiciary to get it unlocked.

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.