Malik Riaz loses right to ‘Bahria’ brand name

Malik Riaz Hussain’s real estate empire was dealt a blow the other day after the property tycoon lost a long-drawn legal battle over the right to use the name ‘Bahria Town’.

A local court in Rawalpindi, handing down a verdict in the over a decade-old case between the naval subsidiary Bahria Foundation and Malik Riaz, accepted the former’s petition originally filed in 2002 – to restrain the realtor from using the name ‘Bahria’ for his housing society.

“We will appeal this order at the next appellate forum accordingly,” Qaiser Qadeer Qureshi, Malik Riaz’s legal adviser, said.

According to details of the case, Hussain Global – a property firm linked to Malik Riaz – signed an agreement with the Bahria Foundation in 1996 to set up Bahria Town.

The foundation was established in January 1982 as a charitable trust under the Endowment Act 1890. The Bahria Foundation Committee of Administration (COA), headed by the chief of the naval staff, consists of eight members, including the foundation’s managing director.

Under the agreement that Riaz signed with the foundation, the naval subsidiary was offered a 10 per cent share for the use of the name ‘Bahria’ for the private housing scheme. The remaining amount was divided between Hussain Global, Malik Riaz and his family members.

In the year 2000, the foundation asked Riaz not to use the ‘Bahria’ name for his housing society and on Feb 24 of the same year, the property mogul signed an agreement with the Bahria Foundation to the same effect. Agreeing not to use the name permanently,  Riaz’s company did request that they may be allowed to retain the name for another 18 months. However, in 2002, Malik Riaz obtained a stay order from a local court, alleging that Bahria Foundation had forced him to sign the agreement. Since then, the tycoon has expanded his housing project manifold and, to date, has sold a massive number of housing and commercial units in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

Bahria Foundation counsel Sheikh Khizer Rashid said that the foundation never pressurised Malik Riaz and he agreed not to use the ‘Bahria’ name of his own free will.

“He signed the deal in the presence of the company’s registrar,” he said.

According to him, Riaz did not appear in court to prove the allegation that he was forced to sign the 2002 agreement.

A spokesperson for the Pakistan Navy said that since the court had already passed an order in the matter, he would not comment on it.