PM Imran Khan submits reply to defamation suit filed by Shehbaz Sharif
"The opposition leader did not serve any specific notice in 60 days as per the law."
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has submitted reply to the defamation suit filed by Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif in the Sessions Court.
PM Imran Khan filed the reply in Lahore’s Sessions Court via his lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar. It was stated in PM’s reply that a man named Umar Farooq told him that there was an offer.
It was mentioned in the reply that Umar Farooq had offered that if Imran Khan stoped following the Panama leaks case, he (Umar) will pay him (PM) a lot of money. The offer of bribe was described as such in the statement, the reply added.
It was further stated in the reply that Shehbaz Sharif s reputation may have been affected not by his statement but by some other reason. Shehbaz Sharif s allegations do not amount to a defamation suit, the reply added.
The opposition leader did not serve any specific notice in 60 days as per the law. Shehbaz Sharif has been a political opponent for two decades. He himself has made several statements to defame opponents, it added.
PM Imran Khan further said in his reply that Shehbaz Sharif wanted to drag political issues in the courts and his claim was false, baseless and distorted. The claim should be dismissed along with fine and the council fee should also be collected from the Leader of the Opposition, it added.
Shehbaz Sharif filed a defamation suit against PM Imran Khan in 2017 stating that Imran Khan uttered false and malicious statements against Shehbaz that he offered him Rs10bn through a common friend in exchange of withdrawing the case of the Panama Papers pending before the Supreme Court.
As per the defamation suit, Shehbaz Sharif served a legal notice to the defendant asking him to tender a proper apology within 14 days through the print and electronic media. However, the defendant failed to make an apology and the plaintiff was left with no option but to approach the court for recovery of damages.
The suit pleaded that the baseless and defamatory statements by the defendant widely circulated by the media lowered the integrity of the plaintiff and caused him extreme mental torture, agony and anxiety.
It has asked the court to issue a decree for recovery of Rs10bn as compensation for the publication of defamatory content in favour of the plaintiff.
