LAHORE: A sessions court adjourned the proceedings in the Rs 10 billion defamation case of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif after the lawyer of former PTI chairman Imran Khan did not conclude cross-examination of Shehbaz Sharif.
Earlier Shahbaz Sharif and his counsel appeared before the court through via a video link. Responding to the questions of Imran Khan, the prime minister clarified that he considers himself a public servant which is why he used the term ‘public service’ in first paragraph of his affidavit.
He rejected the allegation that every word of his affidavit was false or that the affidavit itself was untrue. He also rejected an allegation that the charges leveled against Imran Khan in his affidavit were false. PM Shehbaz also told the court that he did not remember if the Supreme Court issued its verdict in the Panama Papers case on April 20, 2017.
To another query of the defendant’s counsel, he said it was incorrect to suggest that he filed the defamation suit against the PTI former chairman after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Panama Papers case.
Shehbaz also rejected a claim that he did not attach a receipt of sending a legal notice to the defendant before filing the suit. He stated that it was also untrue that no notice was served to the defendant prior to filing the suit. In his defamation suit filed in 2017, Shehbaz said Imran Khan leveled baseless allegations on him. He sought a decree for recovery of Rs10 billion as compensation from the defendant for publication of defamatory content.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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