The British High Court of Justice (HCJ) has ordered Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to pay £30,000 as legal expenses to the Daily Mail (defendant) in a defamation case before 23 November.
In addition, the court also directed Sharif’s son-in-law, Ali Imran, to pay £27,055 to the defendant.
In this regard, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb stated that Daily Mail Online failed to substantiate the accusations against the PM and his son-in-law in the lawsuit
Responding to media reports about the case, she said the British publisher purposefully delayed the case for over 1.5 years and opined that the PM and his son-in-law have already won the case by expressing their stance.
Furthermore, she noted that PM would submit his reply in the hearing, which is scheduled on 13 December.
Previously, the British court rejected Shehbaz Sharif’s request for an indefinite adjournment in the Daily Mail defamation case.
During the hearing, PM’s attorney argued that the Premier is actively busy with state affairs, which is why the court has been requested to grant additional time for the submission of the answers.
However, Justice Matthew Nicklin reminded the PM’s counsel that both the PM and the common man are equal in his court.
PM Shehbaz served the British news outlet and its journalist, David Rose, with a legal notice in 2019 after they published an article accusing the Premiere of embezzling public funds.
PM’s legal notice stated that the article was seriously defamatory to PM Shehbaz, including the false assertions that he misused the UK taxpayers’ funds from Department for International Development (DFID), which was created for Pakistan’s earthquake 2005 victims.
jo idhar shair banay phirtay hain, bahir do takkay ki auqat nahi…