ECP member withdraws defamation suit

The petitioner said that after his retirement the defendant had sought re-employment but his request was turned down

LAHORE: Justice (retd) Riaz Kiani, Election Commission of Pakistan Punjab member, withdrew a defamation suit against Muhammad Afzal Khan, former ECP additional secretary, after the former tendered an apology during court proceedings on Tuesday.

Justice (retd) Kiani had filed the suit in 2014 submitting that Afzal Khan damaged his reputation by raising allegations against him in an interview broadcast by a private television channel.

On Tuesday, the petitioner forgave the defendant after District and Sessions Judge Nazir Ahmed Gajana cited some examples from the life of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) about the value of forgiveness. After the defendant tendered an apology before the judge, Kiani forgave him and both hugged each other.

In his complaint submitted in 2014, Kiani had maintained that he was a retired judge of the Lahore High Court and a member of the ECP. He said he enjoyed a matchless reputation for integrity, knowledge of law and discipline during his three decades long legal career.

He said that during his career he had also been appointed as the deputy attorney general of Pakistan, the Punjab Service Tribunal chairman and the High-rise Buildings Commission chairman. He said the defendant had retired as an additional secretary at the ECP Punjab.

Kiani said that after his retirement the defendant had sought re-employment but his request was turned down. He said his decision had been approved by the full commission. He said he had also turned down the defendant’s request to be promoted to the basic pay scale-22. The latter decision was also endorsed by the commission, he said.

Kiani said the defendant had borne a grudge against him because of these incidents. He said that in an interview telecast on ARY News channel on August 24, 2014, the defendant had made malicious statements about him.

He had requested the court to summon the defendant and prosecute him under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The court had framed charges on May 11, 2016 and fixed June 7 (yesterday) for summoning complainant’s evidence.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.