SHC issues notices to Indian publisher in Zardari case against Hashwani

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday repeated notices to Indian publisher in Rs2 billion defamation lawsuit filed by former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari against businessman Sadruddin Hasahwani for tarnishing his image in his memoir.
The PPP co-chairman had sued the Hashoo Group Chairman Sadaruddin Hashwani for leveling misleading and false allegations against him in his biography titled, ‘Truth always Prevails’ accusing Zardari of victimising, trying to kill him and grabbing some of his properties. The book was published in November last year by an Indian publisher.
Zardari’s counsel Farooq H Naek submitted that the defendant had calculatedly caused harm to the PPP co-chairman in his memoir by distorting the facts with sole intention to defame the reputation of the plaintiff.
He submitted that the defendant malafidely distorted the facts and made false and fabricated statements against the plaintiff which are full of blatant lies. He said that the plaintiff believed in complete freedom of speech as enunciated in Article 19 of the Constitution but in negation of its true spirit, the author had published baseless statements against the plaintiff, which is defamatory and liable to be withdrawn. He prayed the court to grant a stay order against the publication of the book and direct the author to pay Rs2 billion for defaming the plaintiff.
Hashwani’s counsel Munir A Malik undertook to file power of attorney on behalf of his client and raised preliminary legal objections in the case. The SHC’s single bench, headed by Justice Nazar Akbar, observed that stay application would also be heard subject to decision on question of jurisdiction. The court repeated notice to the Indian publisher of the Hashwani’s memoir through publication and adjourned the hearing of the case till February 26.