ISLAMABAD – August 6, 2025:
In a rare and emotionally charged statement, real estate mogul Malik Riaz has appealed for “serious dialogue and a dignified solution” as his flagship venture, Bahria Town, faces mounting legal and financial challenges.
The appeal comes at a critical juncture, just as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved its judgment on a series of petitions challenging the proposed auction of Bahria Town assets. These assets were previously attached in connection with a plea bargain arrangement in the high-profile £190 million case, which has intensified scrutiny around Riaz and his son, Ali Riaz.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had claimed last month that the Riaz family had agreed to a plea deal in the UK-originated case but failed to fulfill their payment obligations. The watchdog moved to identify and liquidate several Bahria Town properties under Section 33E of the NAB Ordinance 1999 to recover the outstanding amount.
The legal troubles are not new. Back in 2019, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) reached a settlement of £190 million with the Riaz family, funds which were subsequently diverted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan instead of the national treasury. That same year, the Supreme Court had approved a staggering Rs460 billion settlement with Bahria Town, after the company was found to have illegally acquired vast tracts of land in Karachi’s Malir district.
However, implementation of the court’s decision has been sluggish. A Supreme Court order dated October 20, 2023, noted that just Rs60.72 billion of the Rs460 billion had been paid—of which only Rs24.26 billion came directly from Bahria Town.
In a public post on X (formerly Twitter), Malik Riaz made what he described as a “final appeal,” saying, “I would like to make a final appeal from the bottom of my heart that we be given a chance to return to serious dialogue, and a dignified solution.”
He further pledged full compliance with any arbitration decision: “If the arbitration decision requires payment of money from our side, we will ensure its payment, God willing.”
Riaz also painted a bleak picture of Bahria Town’s operational viability, stating that services across its housing projects had come to a near standstill. “Our cash flow has been completely destroyed. We are unable to pay salaries to our tens of thousands of employees. We’re dangerously close to a complete shutdown of Bahria Town operations across Pakistan,” he warned.
Last month, the IHC issued notices in response to a NAB petition seeking to lift the stay on the auction of six Bahria Town properties in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Earlier in June, NAB had ordered the freezing of over 450 immovable properties linked to the controversial Bahria Town Karachi land deal. The IHC had subsequently halted the auction scheduled for June 12 through a stay order.
Despite the legal and public pressure, Riaz struck a tone of cautious optimism, expressing hope that Pakistani institutions would “act with justice, wisdom, and prudence” to navigate the impasse.
