LONDON: A United Kingdom court of appeal has upheld the decision to revoke the 10-year multi-entry visit visa to real estate tycoon Malik Riaz and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz.
Malik Riaz and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz had filed a judicial review against the Home Office’s decision in the court of Lady Justice Nicola Davies, Lord Justice Nugee and Lord Justice Snowden against the original decision of the Home Office in December 2019 to revoke their visas.
Their visas were revoked at the end of an investigation which saw Malik Riaz agreed a settlement of £190 million in assets and cash in exchange with the National Crime Agency (NCA) for saving his UK investments of approximately £300 million.
According to reports, Lady Justice Nicolas Davies, in her judgment against the appeal of Riaz and his son, wrote, “Whilst there has not been a criminal conviction against you I am satisfied on probabilities that you have been involved with corruption and financial/commercial misconduct.”
“As a result, having regard to the UK’s commitment to combat corruption and financial crime, I believe that your exclusion from the UK is conducive to the public good due to your conduct, character, and associations,” the judge wrote.
The UK High court on Malik Riaz case cited, “The appellants [Malik Riaz and Ahmed Ali] have been involved with corruption and financial/commercial misconduct was founded on their involvement in the affairs of a company, Bahria Town. The company is wholly owned and run by the appellant’s family and is described as the largest property developer in Asia. At all relevant times, Mr Malik was the Chairman of Bahria Town, Mr Ali was the CEO.”
Malik Riaz and his son had held 10-year visit visas to the UK valid till July 28, 2021 and May 18, 2021, respectively. The Home Office cancelled the visas on December 10, 2019, a week after the NCA announced its probe and settlement with the Bahria Town founder.
First two pages of U.K. High Court upholding Home Office decision to revoke 10 yrs multiple visa of Malik Riaz & his son due to their corruption in Sindh pic.twitter.com/H7RSh7Dkrb
— Ayesha Siddiqa (@iamthedrifter) November 27, 2021
In an attempt to resolve a dispute before court proceedings are initiated, Riaz’s lawyers filed a pre-action protocol (PAP) letter to the Home Office, which took a fresh cancellation decision against their visas on January 31, 2020.
They filed a judicial review application to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). On November 17, 2020, the tribunal dismissed Riaz’s claim for a judicial review, and found no wrongdoing in how the Home Office made its decision about the visas’ cancellation.
Malik Riaz and his son lauched an appeal on seven grounds in the Royal Courts of Justice that upheld the tribunal’s decision on the judicial review. A detailed judgement outlining the grounds of appeal, the evidence considered by the Home Office as well as the decision taken to cancel the visas was published by the court on November 26.
The judgement notes that the conclusion of the Home Office that Riaz and his son have been involved with corruption and financial/commercial misconduct was founded on their involvement in the affairs of Bahria Town.
According to the Home Office, an exclusion decision is a personal decision of the Secretary of State, on the ground that it is conducive to the public good. This means that it is undesirable to admit the person to the UK because they pose a threat to UK society.
