ISLAMABAD (MNN); The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday stayed proceedings in a Lahore trial court in a Rs10 billion defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
The suit, filed in 2017, alleges that Imran Khan made baseless allegations against PM Shehbaz, including claims that he offered Rs10 billion through a mutual friend to settle the Panama Papers case. PM Shehbaz sought the sum as compensation for the publication of defamatory content.
Imran Khan contended in his response that he disclosed the alleged incident for public awareness and in the public interest, and that this did not amount to defamation. He further maintained that he did not specifically attribute any statement to the Prime Minister while narrating the incident.
A three-judge SC bench, led by Justice Ayesha A Malik and including Justices Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar and Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up review petitions filed by Imran against the trial court’s decisions. The SC also issued a notice to the respondent, as no one appeared for PM Shehbaz, and directed the court office to schedule hearings at the earliest.
Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, representing Imran, told the SC that his client could not appear before the trial court due to injuries sustained in a November 2022 assassination attempt. Zafar said the trial court had closed the right to defend despite acknowledging Imran’s injury, and that evidence and witness testimonies were being recorded in his absence.
Justice Malik questioned how the trial court could “terminate the right to defense” after acknowledging the petitioner’s injury. Subsequently, the SC issued a notice and directed the matter to be heard as soon as possible.
Imran’s review petitions followed the trial court’s closure of his right to defend, a decision upheld by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and previously endorsed by the SC in February 2023. The trial court had initially dismissed Imran’s objections regarding the rejection of PM Shehbaz’s interrogatories on October 20, 2022, and later struck off the right to defend on November 24, 2022, due to non-submission of answers.
Previously, a 2-1 majority SC judgment had labeled Imran “wilfully contumacious and disobedient” and found no illegality in the trial court’s actions. Justice Malik had dissented, emphasizing that repeated adjournments since 2017, coupled with Imran’s injury, warranted a reasonable extension and that the right to defend should not be removed without considering all relevant circumstances.
She noted that trial court proceedings had been “mechanical,” granting multiple adjournments without imposing costs, and that striking off the petitioner’s right to defend at that stage would amount to “gross injustice.” Justice Malik had directed that Imran be allowed to file responses to the interrogatories.
Former SC Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, in contrast, observed that Imran’s conduct disqualified him from indulgence under Article 185(3) of the Constitution. He also noted that interrogatories are a tool to reduce litigation time and costs, and that their misuse in this case had unnecessarily prolonged the trial.
Justice Shah stressed that proper use of interrogatories should be encouraged as it saves time and money, benefiting both the parties and the overall administration of justice.
