Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. Ltd. (the “Company”) hereby clarifies erroneous reports in the media that have been circulating regarding its annual general meeting scheduled at 11.30 am on April 5, 2013, at the Regent Plaza Hotel in Karachi. It is most unfortunate that none of the media organizations that have been reporting this matter called the Company for clarification.
At approximately 10.40 am on April 5, 2013, a mob whose ringleader was Shunaid Qureshi s/o Shafi Muhammad Qureshi entered the hotel and proceeded to the area outside the Company’s meeting room where the Company’s share registrar was registering shareholders. Some members of the mob registered with the share registrar others did not. When asked for his original NIC and folio number by our share registrar, the ringleader, Shunaid Qureshi refused to provide them. Shunaid Qureshi simply stated in Urdu that he is Shunaid Qureshi and everyone knows him. It was explained to him that this was a requirement of law but he still did not provide the required details. Upon checking our shareholder list as at the book closure date, we found Shunaid Qureshi is not a shareholder of the Company. We also did not receive a proxy from any other shareholder nominating Shunaid Qureshi as their nominee. Therefore, Shunaid Qureshi was trespassing on the Company’s meeting and his attendance of the meeting was completely unauthorized.
Many members of the mob did not register with their original CNIC while some did not register with the share registrar at all. The mob barged into the meeting approximately (30) minutes before the meeting room was open and damaged a door of the hotel. The mob included a number of people with video cameras who we do not believe were shareholders of the Company and who did not register their NIC cards and folio numbers to evidence their identity as shareholders.
As a result of the serious disturbances created by the mob and the damage to the meeting room door and other property of the hotel, the Chief Security Officer of the hotel called the Saddar Town police station. The police arrived at the meeting and they proceeded to arrest some of the persons involved in this criminal conduct including Haji Ghani Usman and his son, Asim Ghani, both shareholders of the company. Those arrested were taken to the Saddar Police station. The police registered an FIR (First Information Report) against various individuals accompanying Haji Ghani Usman, Asim Ghani and Shunaid Qureshi.
Many of the members of the mob caused severe disruptions during the meeting including assaulting other shareholders present which resulted in altercations between the mob and other shareholders.
Shunaid Qureshi was caught on video tearing his own shirt, presumably to garner sympathy. After the arrest of some of the persons responsible by the police the meeting of the Company resumed. After concluding the remaining items of the agenda the meeting ended in accordance with law.
After he was released from police custody, Haji Ghani Usman proceeded to speak to the media and give a completely distorted version of the events. The Company has taken serious notice of Haji Ghani’s actions. In addition, the Company has taken serious notice of Mr. Shunaid Qureshi’s actions as he was not a shareholder but a trespasser.
The Company is initiating appropriate legal action against these persons.
JSL rubbishes media reports
