Rs10bn defamation case: Counsel for IK sought 75 adjournments, PM’s lawyer tells SC

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s lawyer informed the Supreme Court that the counsel of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) founder Imran Khan has sought 75 adjournments in the defamation case against.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Ayesha Malik, on Tuesday heard a review petition of Imran Khan in the PKR 10 billion defamation case, filed by the incumbent premier.

Mustafa Ramday, representing PM Shahbaz Sharif, contended that Imran Khan’s lawyer during his arguments before the apex court did not point out any error in the review petition, and any defect in the judicial verdict. He submitted that Shahbaz Sharif, in July 2017,had filed a defamation case against the PTI founder, while Imran filed no reply to it after the passage of four years.

PM Shehbaz in 2017 filed a suit against the PTI founder, saying he had levelled baseless allegations against him. He sought a decree for the recovery of PKR 10 billion as compensation from the defendant for the publication of defamatory content.

The defamation suit said Imran wrongly accused PM Shehbaz of offering PKR 10 billion to the latter through a common friend in exchange for withdrawing the Panama Papers case.

He further argued that firing on Imran Khan was a sad event, adding that in the hearing of November 17 and 24, no plea was taken by Imran’s lawyer for his absence.

Justice Ayesha, after hearing the argument, deferred the case until today (Wednesday).

In the last hearing, Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, appearing on behalf of Imran Khan, informed that his client could not appear before the trial court as he was injured after being shot in the leg, referring to an assassination attempt on the former premier in November 2022.

Zafar said the trial court had closed the right to defend despite previously acknowledging the PTI founder’s injury. He said that now, a trial court has commenced recording evidence and testimonies of witnesses in the case.

Imran had filed a review petition after the trial court had closed the right to defence — a decision that was upheld by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and endorsed by the SC on February 21, 2023.

The trial court, through its order on October 20, 2022, had dismissed Imran’s objections in the case over the rejection of PM Shehbaz’s interrogatories — a set of written questions served by one party to the other — and directed the PTI founder to submit his answers.

Later, through a subsequent order of November 24, 2022, the trial court struck off the right of defence due to the non-submission of answers to the interrogatories.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026