Awarding seven million rupees compensation to an aggrieved party as remedy over breach of contract, the court of Civil Judge Islamabad Ms Ambreen Iqbal Chaudhry Thursday decreed a suit against DILOYO (Private Limited) – a chain of cafes owned by Qamar Abbas.
The Court of Ms Ambreen Iqbal Chaudhary has relied on Section 73 of the Contract Act, 1872 which stipulates that compensation is liable to be paid for breach of contract. The Court issued directives to the cafe and its owner to pay Muhammad Ishtiaq Aslam Malik sum of seventy-one lacs as compensation for the investment he made in this business venture.
The Court also directed a payment of 8% interest from the date of the decision of the suit until its realization. This judgment represents a significant victory for investors who have been defrauded of their money by business partners.The background facts of the case are that in late November 2023 one Qamar Abbas, a person hailing from Quetta who purported to be an entrepreneurial genius lured Ishtiaq, a pensioner, into investing his life-time savings in a cafe called “BREE”.
By the standards of Pakistani civil justice, obtaining a civil suit decreed in one year time is something of a record – I am quite satisfied with the outcome, and I think today’s judgment gives hope to Pakistani investors who have been defrauded of their savings by clever fraudsters posing as business partners – my client’s stance has not only been vindicated publicly, but also, I am hopeful that his loss will soon be recovered”, says counsel for the Investor Osama Yousaf.
Qamar Abbas claimed that this was a successful of upcoming chain of cafes and promised to use the investment to setup a new branch of the cafe. He further promised that not only would the investor be able to get a share of the revenue, he would also have ownership rights over the new branch. Qamar gave written projections, promising that the worth of the project would be doubled within a handful of years, if not more. Relying upon these promises, Ishtiaq invested millions of rupees in the project.
Soon after receiving the investment, Qamar Abbas started creating imaginary quarrels with the investor and a few months down the road, on 15th January 2024, sent the investor a termination letter. He sought to oust the investor without returning his capital.
The investor, left with no other remedy, filed a suit for declaration, permanent injunction and damages. After recording evidence, the Civil Court decreed the case in favor of the investor in its eight page long judgment, spanning over nineteen paragraphs.
The Court of Ms Ambreen Iqbal Chaudhary relied on Section 73 of the Contract Act, 1872 which stipulates that compensation is liable to be paid for breach of contract. The Court also relied upon a ruling of the Supreme Court in Habib Bank versus Mahboob Rabbani 2023 SCMR 1189. Besides granting contractual damages, the Court also granted general damages worth one million to the investor on account of the mental anguish he suffered. The Court also granted him one million on account of lost opportunity to invest in alternative ventures, and one lac rupees by way of litigation costs.
Advocate Osama Yousaf from Law and Policy Chamber represented the investor before Court in the matter . While contacted he responded saying, “By the standards of Pakistani civil justice, obtaining a civil suit decreed in one year time is something of a record – I am quite satisfied with the outcome, and I think today’s judgment gives hope to Pakistani investors who have been defrauded of their savings by clever fraudsters posing as business partners – my client’s stance has not only been vindicated publicly, but also, I am hopeful that his loss will soon be recovered.”
