{"id":647,"date":"2026-05-11T18:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/?p=647"},"modified":"2026-05-11T18:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:50:06","slug":"pakistan-court-ruling-clears-path-for-trg-founders-return-raises-governance-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/?p=647","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan court ruling clears path for TRG founder’s return, raises governance concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

KARACHI: Pakistan\u2019s Supreme Court cleared the way for Zia Chishti, \u200cfounder of outsourcing and technology firm TRG Pakistan, to regain influence over the company he resigned from five years ago over sexual harassment allegations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The case could have implications for corporate governance standards in Pakistan, and has attracted attention because of TRG\u2019s \u200binternational footprint, including indirect stakes in AI company Afiniti and Nasdaq-listed customer management firm IBEX.<\/p>\n

Shares in \u200bTRG Pakistan rose as much as 10% on Monday after the decision, triggering a \u2060trading halt on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n

Chishti resigned from TRG-related positions in 2021 after a former Afiniti employee \u200baccused him during testimony before the US Congress of sexual harassment and assault. Chishti has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Chishti, the \u200bfounder and former chief executive of TRG, said he intended to seek a board seat following the ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI plan to contest for a seat on the board and I am hopeful that we get three, possibly four seats on the board,\u201d he \u200btold Reuters.<\/p>\n

He rejected concerns that his return could pose governance or reputational risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegations against me have \u200brepeatedly been proven false, in defamation and litigation in Pakistan and UK. I don\u2019t perceive any reputation risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took \u200cme \u2060four years to adequately establish that allegations against me are untrue. That\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a short order released on Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed appeals by TRG Pakistan, Bermuda-based TRG International and shareholder Greentree Holdings against a lower court ruling that cancelled Greentree\u2019s 30% stake in the Pakistan-listed company.<\/p>\n

TRG International in a press release said \u200bthe ruling would \u201cbe a \u200bsignificant shift in voting \u2060influence within TRG Pakistan toward Mr. Zia Chishti.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRG International warned any renewed association with Chishti could create \u201cserious reputational, governance, commercial, and stakeholder risks\u201d for TRG-related entities.<\/p>\n

The dispute stems \u200bfrom a 2025 Sindh High Court ruling that found TRG Pakistan\u2019s board had \u200bimproperly used \u2060company funds through Bermuda-incorporated Greentree Holdings to acquire shares in the company ahead of board elections, according to a briefing circulated by Chishti\u2019s advisers.<\/p>\n

TRG International disputed that characterisation, saying the ruling had cancelled an approximately $90 million investment made \u2060by a \u200bforeign investor into Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The company said \u201cmultiple layers of governance and structural \u200bprotections\u201d, including a Bermuda court order placing Chishti\u2019s shares into receivership, would limit his practical influence, and that \u201ca constructive and orderly resolution\u201d \u200bremoving it entirely \u201cwould best preserve long-term value for all stakeholders\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KARACHI: Pakistan\u2019s Supreme Court cleared the way for Zia Chishti, \u200cfounder of outsourcing and technology firm TRG Pakistan, to regain influence over the company he resigned from five years ago over sexual harassment allegations. The case could have implications for corporate governance standards in Pakistan, and has attracted attention because of TRG\u2019s \u200binternational footprint, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}