A sessions court in Lahore has reserved its verdict on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s petition to make the legal notice a part of the record in his defamation suit against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
Additional Sessions Judge Yilmaz Ghani heard the arguments from both parties today before reserving the verdict. The court will announce its judgement on PM Shehbaz’s plea on July 10.
PM Shehbaz had filed a defamation suit against the PTI founder over his allegations on a TV channel, over which the former has claimed that it damaged his reputation and demanded Rs10 billion in damages.
In the defamation suit, the prime minister stated that the PTI founder had alleged in a TV programme on April 26, 2017, that he was offered Rs10 billion bribe by PM Shehbaz for keeping silent over the Panama Papers case.
The premier stated that the allegations levelled against him were not only false but also defamatory. He added that the PTI founder failed to tender a publicly broadcast apology, despite being served a legal notice in May 2017 over his allegations.
The court was requested to issue a decree for the recovery of Rs10 billion as compensation for the defamatory remarks in favour of the plaintiff.