Defamation case: Imran Khan’s lawyer fined for late reply

Court is hearing a defamation case filed by Hanif Abbasi.

RAWALPINDI: A district court on Tuesday fined a lawyer for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan Rs500 for the delayed submission of a reply to a notice in a defamation case filed by Muhammad Hanif Abbasi against Khan.

The PML-N local leader filed a defamation suit against the PTI chief for calling him a drug peddler and ‘Ephedrine Abbasi’.

Abbasi claims that Khan’s allegations have dented his image and demanded Rs1 billion as compensation.

Additional Session Judge Mahrukh expressed displeasure over the delayed reply. The lawyer, Qaiser Abbas Kazmi, submitted a written reply saying that the complainant had also used derogatory language against his client on TV and other public forums. He said he could provide evidence from TV and newspaper clippings in which he used defamatory language against Khan, the MNA for NA-56 Rawalpindi. He added that he had also filed an application challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case.

He said that under the defamation law, the court cannot hear or entertain the case as the comments were made in Islamabad and that the defendant is a resident of the same city.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Kazmi said his client had only commented on news reports regarding Abbasi’s alleged role in the ephedrine quota.

Of the fine, he said they were supposed to submit a reply by March 23, but as courts were closed on Pakistan Day, “I don’t understand why I was fined”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2015.