PM Imran Khan terms Shaukat Khanum Trust's funding allegations 'false, defamatory'

• PM Imran Khan submits an affidavit terming all allegations levelled against him as "false and defamatory."
• The premier says the decisions on the hospital’s investment schemes were made by the expert committee without his interference.
• Khawaja Asif had hurled allegations related to misappropriation and money laundering in the funds of SKMT on August 1, 2012.

ISLAMABAD: Following allegations regarding Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust's (SKMT) funding, Prime Minister Imran Khan submitted an affidavit terming all statements issued in this regard as "false and defamatory".

The affidavit was shared with the media by the PM's Office after the premier on Friday attended the online court proceedings from his office in the presence of his counsel, Senator Waleed Iqbal.

During the hearing, the premier said the decisions on the hospital’s investment schemes were made by the expert committee without his interference.

The proceedings were carried out by Additional District and Session Judge Muhammad Adnan on the Rs10 billion defamation suit filed by Imran Khan against former defence minister Khawaja Asif.

Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif had hurled allegations of misappropriation and money-laundering in the funds of SKMT during a press conference held on August 1, 2012, at Punjab House and later repeated the "fabricated statement" the same evening during a private television programme.

The affidavit stated that PM Imran Khan was the "biggest individual donor of SKMT from 1991 to 2009" and the investments — as opposed to the allegations — were fully recovered by the trust without any loss.

It was stated that "fabricated and baseless allegations" were used to undermine the confidence of people in the SKMT.

PM Imran Khan, in his comment during the online-court hearing, said that the  Shaukat Khanum Trust was the only free of charge hospital for the treatment of cancer in the world.

“It is unfortunate to level baseless and fabricated allegations against a welfare body,” he said, expressing confidence that the court would pass an "exemplary verdict on the baseless case and set a precedent."