Defamation suit: Imran using delaying tactics, says Shehbaz’s lawyer

LAHORE: Counsel for Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday told a sessions court that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is using delaying tactics to hamper court proceedings in a defamation against him.

Defamation suits should be resolved within the stipulated time of 90 days, Shehbaz’s lawyer further argued.

The court then ordered both counsels to appear before it in the next hearing, which was adjourned until April 21.

Imran’s lawyer Babar Awan continues to be a no-show in the case.

In November last year, the Punjab chief minister had filed a petition seeking a swift verdict in the case. Shehbaz had stated in the petition that Imran is employing delay tactics and pleaded that the verdict be given in the next 90 days.

Imran, in a public gathering last year, had claimed that Shehbaz had offered to pay him Rs10 billion to remain hush on the Panama Papers case against the Sharif family.

The petition, filed in the court of Lahore additional sessions judge Azfar Sultan under Sections 4 (defamation actionable) and 9 (remedies) of Defamation Ordinance, 2002, states that “the facts and circumstances giving rise to the filing of the instant suit are that since the last week of April 2017, the Defendant [Imran Khan] started uttering, spreading and resorting to the publication, communication and circulation of maliciously false, baseless and unfounded oral statements and representations against the Plaintiff [Shehbaz].”

Moreover, it states that Imran claimed Shehbaz “offered to pay a sum of Rs10,000,000,000 to the Defendant in exchange for his withdrawing/backing-off from, or remaining silent on the issue of the Panama Papers case.”

On April 25, 2017, Imran, during a gathering at Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Lahore, alleged that he had been made an offer regarding the Panama case.

"Just imagine how much money he offered me to be silent — Rs10 billion! If he can offer me this much money, just imagine how much he could offer others. That is why if we don't maintain public pressure on this issue, then after two months it will be dragged to the next year," Khan had claimed.

In an interview televised following the statement, Khan refused to reveal the name of the person who made the offer but did state that this person was close to the Punjab chief minister.

In a press conference later in the day, the PTI chairman directly accused Shehbaz of using the law to his benefit. Khan said he was waiting for Shehbaz to take him to court as he would expose all the wrongdoings he [Shehbaz] has committed.