An appellate court has temporarily suspended an earlier civil court order in a high-profile legal battle between TRG Pakistan Limited and Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. Ltd. (JSCL), granting interim relief to TRG after its lawsuit against JSCL was dismissed by the civil court.
“It appears that there are intricate questions of law and fact involved in the case which requires deeper indulgence of this court. Therefore, in the interest of justice and without touching the merits of this matter, the operation of impugned Order dated 02-12-2025 in Civil Suit No. 1696/2025 (H.C. Suit No. 1589/2022) is suspended till next date. Let the notice be issued to rest of the respondents,” the order issued by the Model Civil Appellate Court Karachi-South on Thursday read.
The development comes after TRG Pakistan announced in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) earlier this week that the company was evaluating its legal remedies in view of the civil court decision to dismiss the lawsuit.
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The company was of the view that the order issued by the VIth Senior Civil Judge Karachi (South) was “flawed in certain respects and may not accurately reflect the merits of the case”.
In a notice to the PSX dated October 25, 2022, TRG Pakistan informed that it had filed Suit no. 1589 of 2022 against various companies and individuals, including Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. Limited and Ziaullah Khan Chishti, whom the company believed were acting in concert.
“The company believes that these parties have violated the provisions of the Securities Act, 2015, as they had acquired shareholding in excess of 30% in the company without making a mandatory public offer in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Securities Act, 2015 and its related rules and regulations,” the notice read then.
What is the TRG saga?
TRG Pakistan Limited was incorporated in Pakistan as a public limited company in 2002. The company obtained a license from the Securities And Exchange Commission Of Pakistan (SECP) to perform as a non-banking finance company and undertake venture capitalist investment.
The company is engaged in investments, particularly in technology, medical insurance, and IT-enabled services through its associate, The Resource Group International Limited (TRGIL).
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In November 2021, a former female employee of Afiniti, a TRGIL portfolio company, testified in a US Congressional hearing that she had won an arbitration award against Chishti, the then CEO and Chairman of Afiniti. The arbitration award, which was subsequently made public by the US Congress, found Chishti liable for sexual harassment, assault, and battery of the female employee.
Within days of this Congressional testimony, Afiniti announced that Chishti had stepped down from his role as chairman, CEO, and director of Afiniti, effective immediately. In the same month, Chishti also resigned from all his positions at TRG.
