Nazia Hassan Foundation dissolved in UK

LONDON: The Nazia Hassan Foundation (NHF) has been struck off by the UK’s Companies House after the trustees responsible to run the charitable organisation and to advance the legacy of singer Nazia Hassan failed to comply with the legal requirement.

The Charity Commission, the regulator of the charities, confirmed to The News that it has begun the process of removing the Nazia Hassan Foundation from the register of charities. Records available at the UK Companies House show that Nazia Hassan Foundation’s trustees failed to submit annual reports of the charity for nearly 1000 days.

The Nazia Hassan Foundation was set up in 2003 as a charity via a company limited by guarantee – two years after the legendary singer died after suffering from cancer. Zoheb Hassan, singer and brother of Nazia Hassan, told this reporter that the Nazia Hassan Foundation was run by his mother Muniza Basir as the Chairperson but “since she is not well we made it dormant in the UK for the time being”.

However, the UK’s register of companies shows that Nazia Hassan Foundation is not dormant but dissolved through “compulsory strike off”. The Charity Commission said that Muniza Basir, Zahra Hassan and M Hassan have been the trustees throughout.

In a statement to this correspondent, a spokesman for the Charity Commission said: “The trustees of the charity have failed to comply with the legal requirement to submit annual returns with the Charity Commission. As the charity has been dissolved as a charitable company, the Commission will look to remove it from the register of charities. The public rightly expects charities to be transparent and accountable about what they do and how they spend their funds.”

The NHF remained a dormant company till April 2020 but the Companies House raised a notice of compulsory strike off on 1st December 2020. After a representation was made, the compulsory strike off action was suspended on 12 January 2021 but the foundation was dissolved via compulsory strike off on 30th of March 2021. The overall history of the foundation shows that the accounts were not filed on time most of the time since the foundation was formed in 2003 and there were several strike off notices – leading up to this year’s compulsory strike off.

The record shows that the NHF hardly had any income over the years and did hardly any activity. While the Nazia Hassan Foundation’s Facebook page remained active throughout the years, hardly anyone took any interest in advancing the objectives that the NHF was built on after Nazia Hassan passed away at the age of 38 at the North London Hospice.

The trustees, at the time of registering the charity, resolved that Nazia Hassan Foundation’s objectives will be “the alleviation of poverty, hardship and suffering in particular among children”. Two years after Nazia Hassan’s death, her mother Muniza Basir and father Basir Hasan set up the NHF in 2003.