PM Imran behind Daily Mail story, alleges Marriyum
British court rules in favor of Shehbaz Sharif in preliminary hearing of Daily Mail defamation case
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said that media trial of Shehbaz Sharif was discussed in Prime Minister House and alleged that Imran Khan was facilitator of Daily Mail’s story.
Talking to media persons, Marriyum Aurangzeb said Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif has challenged that he would quit politics if corruption of a single penny is proved against him; however, no proof of the allegations was presented.
The PML-N leader said that Shehbaz Sharif filed a case against Daily Mail over planted story and now court has summoned all the evidence of allegations levelled by the story.
Marriyum Aurangzeb also alleged that PM’s aide on accountability Shahzad Akbar harassed NAB detainees to get favorable statements from them. PM Imran Khan levelled allegation on others to hide his on lootings, she added.
It is to be mentioned here that a British court has ruled that the Daily Mail’s report was defamatory and ruled in favor of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and son-in-law Ali Imran in a preliminary hearing. A more detailed hearing will follow, with the court declaring the Daily Mail article seriously damaging to the reputation of the two.
London High Court’s Justice Matthew Nicklin gave the initial ruling in a virtual hearing for the case between Daily Mail and Shehbaz Sharif.
Justice Nicklin said that that the words used in the David Rose authored article can be considered slanderous.
He further said that the article showed the highest form of defamation, declaring the Shehbaz guilty of corruption on the basis of presumptions without any solid evidence to back up the claim.
When President PML-N Mian Shehbaz Sharif filed the suit against Daily Mail in the London High Court, he alleged that the article in the newspaper had caused serious harm to his personal and professional reputation.
According to court papers obtained by Dunya News, Shehbaz Sharif paid £10,528 in court fee but had not specified how much he was seeking in legal damages.
In January 2020, Shehbaz Sharif sent legal notices to Daily Mail and journalist David Rose after his story appeared in the newspaper in July 2019, accusing the former Punjab chief minister and his family of embezzling millions of pounds out of £500 million aid lent by the Department for International Development (DFID) for 2005 earthquake victims.
In his suit, Shehbaz Sharif said that the defendant failed to satisfy the most basic tenet of responsible journalism by making any reasonable attempt to obtain comment from him prior to publication.
