- Apex court serves notice on PM Shehbaz seeking his response.
- Televised allegations severely damage reputation: PM Shehbaz.
- Shehbaz sought Rs10bn in compensation for defamatory remarks.
The Supreme Court on Friday barred a trial court from proceeding with a defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against PTI founder Imran Khan.
The lawsuit was filed in response to allegations made by Imran Khan, who claimed that PM Shehbaz had offered him Rs10 billion to withdraw the Panama Papers case.
PM Shehbaz maintained that these allegations, made during a TV programme on April 26 2017, were false and defamatory.
Despite a legal notice served in May 2017, Imran Khan did not issue a public apology, he added. The suit sought Rs10 billion in compensation for the defamatory remarks.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Ayesha Malik issued the stay order on jailed ex-PM Imran’s plea seeking to halt the trial court proceedings.
The apex court also served notice on PM Shehbaz, seeking his response, and observed that the matter would be fixed for early hearing. Justice Malik noted that no one appeared from the other side during the proceedings.
Prior to the stay, the trial court had struck off the PTI founder’s right of defence.
During a hearing on May 17 last year, PM Shehbaz appeared via video link and was cross-examined by the PTI founder’s counsel.
He reiterated that Imran’s allegation of a Rs10 billion bribe amounted to serious defamation, claiming it damaged his reputation far more than “millions of pamphlets” could.
The prime minister told the court that he was unaware whether the PTI founder later denied the claim in a television interview.
While his name was not explicitly mentioned in that particular conversation, he maintained that the overall context of the remarks pointed directly toward him.
He added that, although he was not aware of any written or printed material circulated personally by the PTI founder, the televised allegations constituted a serious attack on his reputation.
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