Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: A Sharjah court has postponed the ruling on whether or not Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas’ $700 million sukuk issue is valid, a source told Reuters late Wednesday.

Dana Gas recently announced that its $700 million Islamic bond issue was no long sharia-compliant, which resulted in massive losses for sukuk holders.

The issue began in June when Dana said that the recent changes in Islamic finance over the past few years have made its bonds unlawful in the UAE.

“A court in the emirate of Sharjah held its first hearing of the case on Tuesday and the judge then decided to reserve his judgment, the source said. It was not clear when hearings might resume,” Reuters reported.

Dana’s sukuk is set to mature in October.

Last week, Dana’s board said they were directing the company’s management to take the necessary measures and procedures to “safeguard the interests of the company” in the proceedings of the sukuk action in both Sharjah and London.

This new postponement may mean that the next development in the case will take place in a London High Court. Fund manager BlackRock and Deutsche Bank are currently representing sukuk holders and have been arguing against UAE-based Dana Gas.