Defamation suit: IHC suspends lower court orders against Babar Awan

District and sessions court had fined the PTI chief’s attorney

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Thursday a district and sessions court’s orders imposing a fine on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan’s attorney Babar Awan and summoning his reply in the Rs20 billion defamation suit filed by former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

While suspending the order, Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi issued notices to the respondents and adjourned the case for a date to be fixed by the registrar office.

The PTI chief has gone to the IHC requesting the court to set aside the sessions court’s orders imposing the Rs500 fine on his counsel. Khan also requested the court to set aside the lower court’s order seeking his comments in the defamation suit filed against him by the former chief justice.

The former CJP filed the suit against the PTI chief for allegedly being involved in rigging the May 2013 general elections.

On May 30, a sessions judge imposed the fine on Awan for not submitting a reply to the application filed by the former chief justice.

Justice Chaudhry has objected that Awan cannot represent Imran Khan because he held “certain preconceived notions and personal bias against the former CJP.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2015.