A judge issues a dissenting note in favor of upholding the earlier limitation of the right to defense
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday restored the right of defense to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in a long-running defamation case filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a majority ruling that also set aside earlier orders of the lower courts.
The case stems from allegations made in 2017 when the PTI founder accused Prime Minister Shehbaz of offering money to withdraw the Panama Papers case. In response, the Prime Minister filed a defamation case, which has been pending in the High Court for eight years.
The court had earlier closed the PTI founder’s right of defence, a decision later upheld by the Lahore High Court (LHC). The PTI founder then approached the SC against the order.
Earlier, a three-member bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah along with Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Ayesha Malik had heard the appeal against the LHC’s decision.
In the earlier order, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan had upheld the closure of the right of defence, while Justice Ayesha Malik had dissented.
On 29 December 2022, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan had also upheld the high court’s decision to close the trial for defence.
However, the Supreme Court allowed a renewed petition against this order and restored the right of defense and directed the trial court to proceed with the case in accordance with law.
The majority judgment was announced in open court by Justice Ayesha Malik, who also headed the revision bench. According to court records, the decision was made by a majority of two judges. At the same time, a judge issued a dissenting opinion in favor of maintaining the previous limitation of the right of defence.
The bench also noted the procedural history of the case, including repeated delays in the trial. Court documents indicated that Khan requested more than 70 adjournments and filed his written response after a delay of four years.
Read: Defamation: SC takes up former PM’s plea
Meanwhile, it was noted that Shehbaz had appeared in the case via video link during several hearings while serving in office.
The earlier decision to block the right to defense had been challenged before the SC, where a three-member board had initially upheld the restriction by a majority. A dissenting note had also been recorded at that time.
2017 libel case
A defamation case was filed by Shehbaz Sharif against the then opposition leader Imran Khan. The suit, originally filed in 2017, accuses Khan of making defamatory statements about Sharif that allegedly caused damage to his reputation and mental well-being.
Sharif’s defamation claim stems from Khan’s allegations, which suggested that Sharif offered him Rs 10 billion through a mutual friend in return for withdrawing from the Panama Papers case, which was then pending before the Supreme Court.
According to the suit, these “baseless and malicious” statements were widely circulated by the media, damaging Sharif’s public image and causing “extreme mental torture, pain and anguish.”
Sharif’s legal team has asked the court to issue a decree for the recovery of Rs 10 billion. in damages for the defamation as well as for the damage caused by the statements. The Prime Minister claims the allegations were false and led to significant reputational damage.
In response, Khan filed a reply in 2021 claiming that the information had been passed on to him by a friend who had allegedly been approached by a member of the Sharif family with an offer to stop pursuing the Panama case.
Khan stated that he disclosed the incident in the public interest and claimed that his statement did not specifically attribute any part of the allegation to Sharif.
