The British High Court of Justice (HCJ) has ordered Prime Minister (PM)Shehbaz Sharif to pay £30,000 as legal expenses to the Daily Mail(defendant) in a defamation case before 23 November.
In addition, the court also directed Sharif’s son-in-law, Ali Imran, to pay£27,055 to the defendant.
In this regard, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting MarriyumAurangzeb stated that Daily Mail Online failed to substantiate theaccusations against the PM and his son-in-law in the lawsuit
Responding to media reports about the case, she said the Britishpublisher purposefully delayed the case for over 1.5 years and opined thatthe PM and his son-in-law have already won the case by expressing theirstance.
Furthermore, she noted that PM would submit his reply in the hearing, whichis scheduled on 13 December.
Previously, the British court rejected Shehbaz Sharif’s request for anindefinite adjournment in the Daily Mail defamation case.
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During the hearing, PM’s attorney argued that the Premier is actively busywith state affairs, which is why the court has been requested to grantadditional time for the submission of the answers.
However, Justice Matthew Nicklin reminded the PM’s counsel that both the PMand the common man are equal in his court.
PM Shehbaz served the British news outlet and its journalist, David Rose,with a legal notice in 2019 after they published an article accusing thePremiere of embezzling public funds.
PM’s legal notice stated that the article was seriously defamatory to PMShehbaz, including the false assertions that he misused the UK taxpayers’funds from Department for International Development (DFID), which wascreated for Pakistan’s earthquake 2005 victims.
