2 weeks Ago By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE - A sessions’ court on Saturday adjourned proceedings in the Rs10 billion defamation suit against the Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder till April 25. Additional District and Sessions Judge Yilmaz Ghani conducted proceedings on the defamation suit where-in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared via video link and was cross-examined by the PTI founder’s counsel, Advocate Muhammad Hussain. Prior to the questioning, the prime minister took an oath to speak the truth.
In his testimony, Shehbaz Sharif stated that he had not made any TV channel owner or employee a party in the defamation suit. During the cross-examination, Shehbaz Sharif further stated that the PTI founder has never made the allegations directly in his presence. When asked whether the PTI founder had ever person-ally published or broadcast such claims, the prime minister responded that the PTI founder had made all the accusations himself on television.
Pakistan, Afghanistan not to allow soil misuse against each other The prime minister confirmed that he had personally signed the defamation suit, and that the oath commis-sioner visited him for verification. He added that the PTI founder was serving as his party’s chairman in 2017 and has always been a political rival of the PML-N. Subsequently, the court postponed further cross-examination of PM Shehbaz Sharif till the next hearing, April 25.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, through the defamation suit, had submitted that the PTI founder alleged in a TV programme on April 26, 2017, that the Rs 10 billion bribe offer was made to him by Shehbaz Sharif for silence over the Panama papers case. He said that allegations levelled against him were not only false but also defamatory. He said that the PTI founder also failed to tender a publicly broadcast apology despite the fact that he was served a legal notice in May, 2017 for the purpose.
The court has been requested to issue a decree for re-covery of Rs 10bn as compensation for the publication of defamatory content in favour of the plaintiff. We have successfully reduced reliance on imported goods: PM Tags: testifies imran defamation.
