Court slaps fine on Khawaja Asif, Imran lawyers in Rs10bn defamation case

• District and sessions court imposes Rs10,000 fine on both parties'  lawyers
• Court approves plea seeking adjournment filed by Asif's lawyer.
• Court adjourns hearing till February 11.

A local court in Islamabad has imposed a penalty of Rs10,000 on the lawyers of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in his Rs10 billion defamation case against the former, The News reported citing local media.

Additional District And Sessions Judge Umeed Ali Baloch slapped Asif's lawyer with a fine while approving his plea seeking the adjournment, and Imran's lawyer for not opposing the plea during a hearing on Saturday.

The hearing was then adjourned till February 11.

Imran Khan had filed a defamation suit of Rs10 billion against Khawaja Asif in 2012, for levelling allegations of non-transparency, money laundering and use of anonymous companies in the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust funds. Khan had termed the allegations false and defamatory.

Imran admits investing Shaukat Khanum funds in housing project

A controversy arose last week after Khan admitted during the hearing of the case that he invested funds worth $3 million donated to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) in a housing project.

However, the SKMT management clarified that they invested $3 million in an endowment fund in a real estate project in Oman so they can be used to provide quality cancer care.

The SKMT said that its funds have never been misused or “diverted”, by its chairman, Imran Khan, or any other individual

An SKMT spokesperson said that all its funds, including those invested in its endowment fund, are used only to support its mission of providing world-class care to cancer patients.

“As is common for many charity organisations, SKMT created an endowment fund to provide financial security and to cater for expenses in the long term. This endowment fund is supervised by an investment committee, with all investments made by the fund upon the recommendations of this committee. The chairman does not, and has never, made investment decisions in isolation,” the spokesperson said.

He added, “It is crucial to point out that only non-Zakat funds are invested in this manner, with all Zakat collected being utilised on direct patient care within the year in which it is collected."