Court bins retired CJP's Rs20bn defamation lawsuit against PTI founder
Pakistan
Court bins retired CJP’s Rs20bn defamation lawsuit against PTI founder
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – A lower court in Islamabad has dismissed the Rs20 billion defamation lawsuit filed by retired chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, against the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nearly a decade ago.
The lawsuit, filed in Jan 2015, accused the PTI founder of electoral fraud during the 2013 general elections.
Additional Sessions Judge Husna Saqlain issued the detailed order, spanning six pages.
In its verdict, the court rejected the Rs20 billion claim in damages against the PTI founder, ruling that the defamation claim had exceeded the six-month period required by law for such statements, resulting in the dismissal of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's claim.
The court noted that the defamation claim was filed six months and 24 days after January 20, 2015. According to relevant laws, the claim should have been filed within six months.
In the lawsuit, the retired justice alleged that the PTI founder had made baseless and malicious accusations against the judiciary.
According to the lawsuit, derogatory language was used by the PTI founder in a statement dated June 27, 2014.
