Pakistani-American entrepreneur Zia Chishti achieved a significant triumph at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, where the highest judicial authority dismissed multiple appeals filed by Greentree Holdings Limited, The Resource Group International Limited (TRGI), and The Resource Group Pakistan Limited (TRGP). These appeals were part of a major corporate conflict involving the TRG group.
A three-judge panel, consisting of Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the interconnected cases and issued a brief order rejecting the petitions, which had been treated as appeals. In an uncommon move, the bench directed the appellants to pay Chishti’s legal expenses, which are estimated to run into millions of dollars. The court indicated that a detailed explanation of its decision would be provided separately.
This case reached the Supreme Court following a ruling by the Sindh High Court a year earlier, which found that the management of TRG Pakistan had engaged in fraudulent activities. The High Court had ordered the company to conduct long-overdue board elections promptly and blocked Greentree Holdings’ attempted takeover of TRG Pakistan Limited, declaring that nearly 30% of the shares Greentree acquired were unlawfully financed.
TRG Pakistan is chaired by Mohammed Khaishgi and led by CEO Hasnain Aslam, both Harvard alumni. The proceedings featured numerous senior lawyers, including Makhdoom Ali Khan, Abid S. Zuberi, Munir A. Malik, and Mustafa Ramday.
The Supreme Court was informed that the protracted corporate dispute involves TRG Pakistan Limited, TRGI, and Greentree Holdings Limited, centering on alleged “equitable fraud” by directors accused of illegally consolidating control over billions of rupees in assets while depriving over 13,000 shareholders of their rights.
In detailed legal submissions filed under CPLA No. 2543 of 2025, Zia Chishti claimed that certain directors of TRGP, TRGI, and Greentree orchestrated transactions to entrench their control, evade shareholder accountability, and secure personal financial gains despite holding minimal economic interest in the companies. The dispute notably involves TRGP surrendering a contractual right to sell part of its stake in TRGI for $120 million in cash and 5.4 million shares of Ibex Limited, a publicly traded company.
Instead of honoring this agreement, these assets were allegedly diverted to the offshore shell company Greentree to acquire shares in TRGP, thereby consolidating control of both TRGP and TRGI within a small group of directors. The filings indicate that Greentree spent approximately $90 million to buy TRGP shares, which later depreciated significantly alongside TRGP’s falling share price. Furthermore, the directors purportedly extracted over $100 million through share buybacks, paid themselves more than $10 million in emoluments, and caused the companies to incur legal fees exceeding $40 million.
The conflict dates back to December 2021, when TRGI reportedly approved the distribution of substantial liquid assets among shareholders. While most shareholders accepted share repurchases and received cash and Ibex shares, TRGP was allegedly excluded. TRGP’s board, allegedly controlled by conflicted directors involved on both sides of the transaction, rejected the offer. The submissions also accuse these directors of deliberately postponing TRGP board elections scheduled for January 2025. A series of coordinated lawsuits were filed in civil courts across Kamalia, Lahore, and Islamabad to block these elections, often through proxy plaintiffs.
Chishti’s legal team denied allegations regarding his personal conduct, emphasizing that the case fundamentally concerns safeguarding shareholder rights and corporate governance standards.
In a related development from a year ago, a major British newspaper issued an apology to Zia Chishti for publishing sexual misconduct allegations. These claims, made by a former employee of Afiniti, Tatiana Spottiswoode, were reported to the United States Congress, though Chishti was denied the chance to respond. He subsequently initiated libel proceedings against the newspaper in the High Court of England and Wales. In a June 2023 trial, Justice Susan Collins Rice ruled that the allegations were defamatory and that the newspaper’s coverage was unbalanced, creating a misleading impression. The newspaper published an apology alongside thirteen articles and paid substantial damages and legal fees to Chishti.
During the Supreme Court proceedings, Zia Chishti appeared in person. The case was marred by an incident in which an associate from a local law firm physically assaulted him inside the Islamabad High Court. Additionally, there was an attempted kidnapping outside the court, which Chishti successfully resisted until bystanders intervened and recorded the event, causing the attackers to flee.
Following the ruling, Chishti, founder and former CEO of TRG, expressed his intention to seek a seat on the company’s board. He stated, “I plan to contest for a seat on the board, and I am hopeful that we get three, possibly four seats on the board. The allegations against me have repeatedly been proven false, in defamation and litigation in Pakistan and UK. I don’t perceive any reputation risk. It took me four years to adequately establish that the allegations against me are untrue. That’s all that matters.”
