LONDON: Reham Khan, the broadcaster and ex-wife of the Prime Minster of Pakistan Imran Khan, has received substantial libel damages and a public apology from a private Pakistani television channel in connection with a television programme that was broadcast in the UK on June 5, 2018, in which Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed accused her of getting money from PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif.
Justice Nicklin at the London High Court, in Royal Courts of Justice, was informed by Hamlins LLP’s Alex Cochrane that the broadcast had made a number of very serious allegations about Reham Khan, including, quite wrongly, that she had colluded with her ex-husband’s political rivals in the Pakistan Muslim League and that she had accepted a substantial payment from or on behalf of its leader, Shehbaz Sharif, the former chief minister of Punjab and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother, in return for writing her autobiography titled “Reham Khan”.
He told the court: “Sheikh Rasheed called my client a woman of worst morals than a prostitute. An allegation that caused distress to my client and her family and damaged her reputation considerably.” The private channel informed the Court that it accepted that there is no truth to this allegation, or to any of the other allegations that she complained of.
Reham Khan was accused of taking money from opponents of the PTI after she wrote her memoirs related to her one-year-long marriage to Imran Khan. Sheikh Rasheed, Hamza Abbasi, Fawad Chaudhry, Fayyaz Hassan Chohan, Salman Ahmed and several anchors made allegations on TV in June 2018.
Reham Khan’s lawyer, Alex Cochrane of Hamlins LLP, said: “The television programme made very serious allegations about our client that are entirely false. Reham Khan had no alternative other than to take legal action to vindicate her reputation, and I am happy to say that the channel has now given Reham Khan a full and unequivocal apology in the High Court in London. They have also paid her substantial libel damages and all her legal costs. Reham is obviously very pleased with the apology and the successful outcome to this matter”. Reham Khan said: “I am glad that justice has finally prevailed. It took me a long legal battle to prove my innocence and the fact that I was victimised and defamed by this and several other news channels for business and political gains. I have never received any kind of money from Mr Shehbaz Sharif for writing my book. It’s hurtful that sections of Pakistani media and politicians linked with PTI made false allegations knowing well that these allegations lacked any truth. These allegations have put my life at risk and have repercussions for me for all my life. I hope that my victory and vindication serves as a catalyst for ethical journalism and honest politics in Pakistan. I see this as a win for all women in Pakistan who suffer character assassination by patriarchal society. I am thankful to Hamlins LLP for ensuring that justice is done.” The trend of seeking redress from the UK justice system started after Geo and Jang’s editor-in-chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman approached media regulator Ofcom in the UK in the last quarter of 2013.
From October 2013 to October 2015, a year-long campaign of defamation and lies was run on ARY News by the channel. In the defamation campaign it was alleged that Mir Shakil–ur-Rahman was a ‘traitor’, an ‘Indian, American and British agent’. He was also accused of making money through corruption. The Ofcom made decision in favour of Mr Rehman establishing that he was treated unfairly and his privacy was breached. Following that, the Geo and Jang Management took its complaints to the London High Court in October 2014. It took almost one year for both the claimant and the defendant (ARY) to agree on the translations of more than 24 programmes.
The trial of the case started in November 2016 and last for about three weeks. A month later in middle of December 2016, Justice Sir David Eady announced in his verdict that Mr Rehman was subjected to worst ever defamation and all allegations were wholly false and unsubstantiated. The total cost to ARY was declared at around £3 million. The channel was shut down a month later and its assets went into liquidation. Geo/Jang Group has so far issued multiple notices to media outlets that carried similar allegations and have some of them settle these cases with clarifications or apologies. About five years ago, Mir Shakilur- Rehman had filed many cases in this regard in Pakistan which are still pending in the courts. Businessman Mian Mansha and politician Berjees Tahir have won cases of defamation in the last two years in Britain.
Since then several businessmen, politicians and individuals have taken cue and take their complaints to Ofcom and launched litigation in London High Court relating to broadcasts on Pakistani TV channels in the UK. Almost all channels including Dunya, Samaa, Geo News, NVTV (ARY), 92 News, Channel 44 are facing claims from Pakistanis over grievances of various nature. Legal experts are of the view that Pakistanis have taken to UK courts because they believe that decisions come within two to three years and media regulator doesn’t take political sides and decides cases on merit and justice is provided to all sides