A Lahore court has issued bailable arrest warrants for Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill in a defamation suit filed against him by a private company, Aaj News reported on Thursday.

The order was issued by Additional Sessions Judge Husnain Azhar Shah. The judge issued Gill's arrest orders as he failed to appear in the court and directed him to appear in person on November 1.

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The court also directed the PTI leader to submit surety bonds worth Rs30,000.

Meanwhile, the SAPM filed a plea in the court, seeking withdrawal of the arrest warrant.

Gill, during a TV show in September last year, had accused a Turkish company M/s Platform Turizm Tasimacilik — a subsidiary of Al-Bayrak Group of companies — of signing the metro bus project with the then PML-N government on an inflated amount.

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Gill had alleged that the group signed the metro bus project with the government and paid commission to Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shahbaz.

The petition stated that Gill’s claims lacked evidence and sabotaged the company’s reputation leading to a loss of millions of dollars.

Gill had registered a case arguing that the documents the company officials had submitted with the defamation suit in the court were fabricated.