A Pakistani court issued a notice to Imran Khan in a defamation case filed by opposition leader and PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif seeking early hearing of his suit against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Dawn reported.
The defamation suit, that has been pending since the last three years, was filed by Sharif in the year 2017, when Khan, in a press conference, had alleged that Sharif had offered him Rs 10 billion in exchange of withdrawing the Panama Papers case.
According to the report, the defamation suit stated that the accusations are baseless and has caused the plaintiff mental agony.
It also said that the plaintiff had served a legal notice to Khan to tender an apology within 14 days and was left with no option but to approach the court due to the lack of an apology.
The court has been requested to issue a decree for recovery of Rs 10 billion as compensation for the defamatory content.
NDTV also reported that, after hearing the arguments, Additional District & Sessions Judge Sohail Anjum issued notice to Khan for 10 June to submit a written reply.
The report also quoted PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb as saying, “Imran Khan will no longer qualify on Article 62, 63 of the Constitution if he fails to submit a response in the Rs 10 billion defamation case. I challenge Imran Khan to answer in court over his allegation of Rs 10 billion hush money offered by Shehbaz Sharif to him.”
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