Defamation case: Supreme Court upholds trial court decision against Imran Khan

LAHORE: The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed by 2-1 majority PTI Chairman Imran Khan's appeal against terminating the right to defence by a trial court in the Rs10 billion defamation suit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against him. 

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah heard the appeal. Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan dismissed the appeal whereas Justice Ayesha A Malik dissented with the verdict.

During the proceedings, Mustafa Ramday appeared on behalf of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and argued that the trial court had lawfully struck the right of the petitioner to answer the interrogatories of the respondent (Shehbaz Sharif).

According to a Jang report, Imran sought adjournment on 140 hearings and filed reply after four years.

He said the trial court passed the orders after the petitioner (Imran Khan) failed to file the reply despite repeated opportunities. He further submitted that the trial court conducted 21 hearings from the direction of filing the reply to striking out the right of defence in the suit whereas 13 adjournments were taken instead of filing the reply on behalf of Imran Khan.

He submitted that the petitioner could have refused to give an answer to any question in his reply, adding that the final opportunity to file a reply was also deliberately missed.

However, Imran Khan s counsel Barrister Ali Zafar submitted that the trial court unlawfully struck the right of his client. He submitted that the trial court exercised its suo motu powers to seize the right of the petitioner to file objections. He further submitted that out of 23 hearings, the counsel for Imran Khan sought adjournments on 10 different occasions whereas the opponent sought adjournments on seven occasions.

He pleaded with the court to set aside the verdict of the trial court.

Subsequently, the bench, after hearing detailed arguments of the parties, dismissed the appeal by a 2-1 majority and upheld the trial court verdict.

Shehbaz Sharif had requested the court to close Imran s right to file his written statement because of inordinate delay on his part through unnecessary adjournments.

As per case details, the defamation suit, filed in 2017, alleges that the defendant Imran Khan started uttering false and malicious statements against the plaintiff (Shehbaz Sharif) and that the latter offered Rs10 billion to the former through a common friend in exchange for withdrawing the Panama Papers case pending with the Supreme Court.

Shehbaz pleaded that Imran s baseless and defamatory statements were widely circulated by the media, denting his integrity and causing him extreme mental torture, agony, and anxiety.

The court was asked to issue a decree awarding the plaintiff, Shehbaz Sharif, Rs10 billion in restitution for the publication of defamatory content.