Ex-CJP's Rs20bn lawsuit against Imran dismissed

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Saturday dismissed a Rs20 billion defamation case filed against PTI founding chairman Imran Khan by former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry after nearly a decade.

The case stemmed from allegations made by Chaudhry in July 2014, when he sent a defamation notice worth Rs20 billion to Imran for accusing him of rigging in the 2013 general election.

Following the notice, Chaudhry's legal team warned of initiating legal proceedings if Imran did not apologise for his statements.

Formally filing the lawsuit in January 2015, the former CJP claimed that Imran had used derogatory remarks against him in a statement published on June 27, 2014, and had levelled baseless allegations against the judiciary.

After lengthy proceedings, the court ruled in Imran's favour, dismissing the lawsuit and declaring the defamation notice as time-barred.

Additional District Session Judge Haseena Saqlain, in her ruling, stated, "As per the plaint, the last alleged defamatory statement was made on 27.06.2014, and the suit has been filed on 20.01.2015, that is after lapse of almost six months and 24 days."

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“The argument of the plaintiff is that the suit has been filed within six months of the purported notice issued on 24.07.2014, hence, is filed within time,” the ruling read.

The judgement emphasised the importance of including the date of knowledge of publication of defamatory material in the plaint, stating, "Including the date of knowledge of publication of defamatory material in the plaint is crucial because it plays a significant role in determining whether the suit is within the statutory limitation period."

The court stated the requirement under the Defamation Ordinance 2022 for the plaintiff to file the suit within six months from the date of knowledge of the publication of defamatory material. Failure to do so would render the suit time-barred, as per Section 12 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002.

"The presumption is now that the plaintiff was aware of the alleged defamatory remarks on the date of publication. Consequently, the filing the instant suit beyond the limitation period stipulated under Section 12 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002 is not permissible as the same has been filed after more than six months and 24 days of alleged defamatory statements published,” the ruling read.