From Abid Usman
LAHORE: Former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif submitted a plea on Friday to expedite the defamation suit filed against Prime Minister Imran Khan, who made a controversial statement against the PML-N leader two years ago in relation to the Panama Papers case.
The PML-N president submitted the miscellaneous plea to a sessions court in Lahore, where Judge Sohail Anjum heard the petition. In his plea, Shehbaz’s lawyer Babar Awan said that PM Imran Khan is not presenting before the court in the case. The complainant’s lawyer said that defamation case against the premier is pending since past three years.
Following the arguments, the court subsequently issued a notice to the nominated parties’ lawyers for a response. In 2017, Shehbaz Sharif sent a Rs10 billion defamation notice to then PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
The notice, which had been filed under sections 4 and 9 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, stated that Imran falsely accused Shehbaz of making him a financial offer for his ‘silence over the Panama Papers case’. The petition stated that “the facts and circumstances giving rise to the filing of the instant suit are that since the last week of April, 2017.
