PM Shehbaz won defamation case against Daily Mail on conditions set by him: PTI’s UK lawyer

LONDON: The Daily Mail defamation case's outcome is exactly what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf wanted when they initiated proceedings against the paper for publishing a false and defamatory story by reporter David Rose, the lawyer representing Yousaf said.

Barrister Waheed Ur Rehman Mian, following the outcome of the case, has been removed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) from the senior party position for representing Prime Yousaf in the defamation case against Daily Mail.

In an interview, Mian said the successful out-of-court settlement — apology and removal of the defamatory article — is “exactly in line with what the clients wanted in their defamation claims.

They had stressed the Daily Mail news is fake and baseless, he said, adding that the clients wanted the false news to be removed that alleged corruption in the Department For International Development (DFID) aid grant to Pakistan.

"They claimed they had nothing to do with corruption. Before going to the trial, Daily Mail started negotiation and settled the case as per the desires of the clients”.

A day after PM Shehbaz's historic win against Mail last week, PTI’s senior leadership removed Mian from the post of Deputy Secretary of PTI Office of International Chapters (OIC) on the grounds that his representation of Yousaf and apology by Daily Mail had harmed party’s narrative.

Barrister Mian’s law firm had represented Yousaf in his case against Associated Newspapers Limited (publishers of Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Mail Online) while Shahbaz Sharif was represented by Carter-Ruck law firm. Until last year, Mian was PTI’s London President.

Talking about Yousaf, the barrister said that it’s not possible for him to call someone a thief when he knows for a fact he has never been involved in corruption.

“I cannot call someone a liar and corrupt just for the sake of it.”

He said he agreed to represent Yousaf after being fully satisfied with evidence that the allegations that Ikram Naveed was the frontman of Yousaf were completely bogus.

He said there is no doubt that Naveed, who was a senior executive of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), was involved in corruption but Yousaf had nothing to do with him and he only did a genuine business transaction with him.

“There were over 40 developers who did business with Ikram Naveed, Imran Ali Yousaf was one of them. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigated the case and returned the money of all investors to get the properties back but singled out only Imran Ali Yousaf for victimisation. That was discrimination because the NAB wanted to show that Imran was involved in corruption."

Daily Mail’s article accused Yousaf of being a beneficiary of the corruption through Naveed and the DFID funds.

"We asked Yousaf for proof, full NAB record, banking trail, proof of purchase of assets and companies. He satisfied us with everything and we filed a claim on his behalf," he said.

Barrister Mian revealed that Daily Mail and Rose had nothing to defend the claim by Imran Ali Yousaf and made excuses when asked to present evidence of embezzlement.

At the time of publishing the defamatory article on July 14, 2019, Daily Mail had said it had every evidence in support of its claim but Barrister Mian said that Daily Mail asked for nine extensions.

“Daily Mail said it needed time because it wanted to interview over 100 witnesses in Pakistan and then COVID started."

"After travel restrictions were over, direction hearings started and a trial date for October. Negotiations for an apology were going on behind the scenes throughout,” said the lawyer.

Barrister Mian said he knew the risks of representing Yousaf as he was one of the senior PTI leaders in the UK and therefore set high standards of proof.

He said: “I cannot comment on Shehbaz Sharif’s case as we didn’t represent him but we demanded from Daily Mail every kind of evidence against Imran Ali Yousaf; we cross-examined them and we asked for facts but Daily Mail had nothing other than mere allegations.”

Barrister Mian said that the PTI leadership was aware he was representing Yousaf and he informed PTI chief Imran Khan when taking up the case of Yousaf.

He said the former prime minister had no issue with it. It’s only after they won against Daily Mail that the PTI leadership saw their narrative being damaged and the conflict of interest.

“I dealt with this case as a professional lawyer. Only after the Daily Mail apologised that I was removed from the party position.”

He said that Yousaf’s case was so strong against Daily Mail that “we advised him not to settle out of court and not be in a rush because we knew Imran Ali Yousaf will win at the trial but in the large picture he decided to settle the case as the other party (Shahbaz Sharif) had decided to settle the case with an apology and removal of the article. We had advised Imran Yousaf that we shouldn’t negotiate and go for the trial”.

The barrister said Daily Mail apologised after being advised by its own lawyers that if the case goes to trial the paper will lose.

“Daily Mail must have assessed and their barristers must have advised them that if the case goes to trial they may not be able to win or that they will not be able to win. They did negotiations acting on the advice of their lawyers. These negotiations have been going on for quite some time.”

He Waheed revealed that Daily Mail had started negotiating to settle the case and made an “offer to apologise within the first year (2020) after we filed the case.

Daily Mail had started negotiations to apologise even before filing the defence (in February 2022). Negotiations started a long time ago.”

PM Shehbaz's lawyers at Carter-Ruck have said that Daily Mail had stopped defending the defamatory article by Rose and didn’t even seek to defend the allegation of corruption when filing the defence in February this year.

Barrister Mian said that Yousaf had rejected the initial offers of apology from Daily Mail when it was made in around mid-2020.

“There was then a second and third offer and our client accepted the fourth offer along with Shehbaz Sharif in the larger picture of things and a settlement was made”.

The lawyer confirmed that offers to apologise were made when PTI was in power in Pakistan.

Barrister Mian said that it had become clear to Daily Mail in February 2019 that it cannot defend the claim when Justice Nicklin ruled the meaning trial in favour of PM Shehbaz and Yousaf and added that it wouldn’t matter what decisions NAB courts in Pakistan make and that the case in the UK will be decided as per merit and English law.

Barrister Mian said after Daily Mail’s apology and retraction of allegations, he had informed the party leadership that he was ready to step away from his role if required.

“I informed the party that if my professional role as a lawyer in the UK is seen as in conflict with the party policy and if it's damaging the party’s narrative then the party should consider relieving me of my duties. I sent this message on Friday and today the notification to relieve me was issued. I welcome it and I have no issue. My support and wishes remain with the PTI and will continue. However, I am taking a break from all kinds of political activities for some time.”

Last Thursday, PM Shehbaz Sharif won a landslide apology and withdrawal of each and every allegation of corruption from publishers of the Mail newspapers over the article by Rose that had accused him and his son-in-law of stealing British taxpayers’ money.

Daily Mail publishers have deleted the article — “Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEAL funds meant for earthquake victims, asks David Rose” — and issued an apology online and in print.

The Daily Mail took down its article on Thursday within minutes after informing the court that it had decided not to go for the trial and decided to settle the case with PM Shehbaz Sharif and Yousaf.

Not just that, Daily Mail worked with Google to remove every link that contained allegations of corruption against Shahbaz Sharif, based on Daily Mail’s sensational but false article.

PM Shehbaz was first given a clan chit in September 2021 by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and now he has won an apology from the Associated Newspapers over a defamatory article.