LAHORE: Nishat Group Chairman and Pakistan's leading industrialist Mian Mohammad Mansha has served a legal notice in England through Carter Ruck (the UK's leading defamation law firm) against Pakistani media house ARY Network Ltd for false and defamatory allegations broadcast by the television network on-air.
As stated in the legal notice served on January 14 that the network's broadcasts contained numerous false and slanderous allegations, including those pertaining to the acquisition of the St James Hotel and Club Limited (the "Hotel") in the UK and the operations of DG Khan Cement's Kallar Kahar factory in Pakistan. The allegations have been flatly and categorically denied being devoid of any truth whatsoever.
The notice declares that it is completely false that Chairman Nishat Group has been involved in money laundering and/or other illegal activity in relation to the acquisition of the St James Hotel. As has been public ally disclosed, the hotel is 100% owned by M/s Sea Capital Limited, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom. That company is a wholly owned subsidiary of M/s Residentia Holdings PTE Limited which is a Singaporean entity. Residentia Holdings PTE Limited financed the acquisition of M/s Sea Capital Limited through a mixture of debt and equity.
The notice goes on to say that Nishat Group chairman does not own any interest in any of these entities. Three members of Chairman Nishat Group's family own the entire equity of M/s Residentia Holdings PTE Limited and have declared the same in their respective wealth statements. The acquisition of the Hotel was undertaken according to international regulations and was overseen by external auditors of repute. All relevant records have been duly filed with the concerned regulators.
The notice further states that it is completely false that Chairman Nishat Group operates the DG Khan Cement factory in KallarKahar, in callous disregard of serious harm being caused to the health and well-being of people living in the area of the factory and extensive pollution of the environment in the area of the factory. It is also completely falsethat Chairman Nishat Group has used illegal means to obtain the collusion of the Government and regional administrators to enable him to operate the factory as per allegations levelled by ARY Network Ltd. The legal notice further states that the DG Khan Cement factory located within KallarKahar was supplied by a world renowned supplier of cement plants and equipment and thatthe equipment complied with applicable World Bank Environment Standards in terms of gaseous, liquid and particulate emissions. Since commercial production commenced in March 2007, the factory has undergone regular inspection by Pakistan's National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) and, on each occasion, has been found compliant with the set standards.
The factory team takes their duties and responsibilities to the local community and workers - over 50% of whom are from the local community - to include their environmental responsibilities very seriously. These include providing free drinking water (approximately 275,000 litres daily), medical services for those patients who live in the vicinity of the factory and free transport to and from the Factory's medical centre for elderly and female patients. The notice discloses that images of chimney smoke spewing from a factory were broadcast by the Network and incorrectly attributed to DG Khan Cement, whereas they were from another factory. Allegations that the DG Khan Cement factory emits smoke and pungent odour during its operations are wholly false. Contrary to the impression conveyed in ARY Network Ltd's programmes, poultry and household waste is not transported to the factory untreated and in open lorries. It is transported in covered lorries, mainly on the motorway, from the waste processing plant "Lahore Green". Alternate fuel usage at the factory accounts for approximately 20% of the fuel used. Indeed, far from profiting from the burning of this waste, the factory ran at a loss for approximately the last six months in relation to this aspect of its processes.
The notice further states that the allegations made by ARY Network Ltd. are gravely defamatory and are of a nature that will have caused serious harm and are likely to cause serious harm in the future. This is aggravated by the wholly gratuitous broadcasting of the national identity cards of the Chairman Nishat Group's family members, containing their photographs and unpixellated private personal information - a very serious security risk to their lives. This is yet further aggravated by ARY Network Ltd.'s conduct during the course of 2015, whereby the Network has undertaken a campaign against Chairman Nishat Group, broadcasting repeated false and damaging claims about him, which have escalated over recent months.
DAILY TIMES
YEMI
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