Imran Khan fined Rs 5000 by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday. For his request that a hearing in a defamation case against Defense Minister Khawaja Asif adjourned. The former prime minister and president of the Pakistan Peoples Party filed the suit against Asif on Monday over statements he made during an address at Islamabad’s Jinnah Convention Centre last month.
Additional Sessions Judge Adnan Khan fined the PTI chief Rs5,000 for trying to get a hearing adjourned because he involved in ongoing relief efforts for flood victims. Imran also fined Rs150,000 for the same reason by an accountability court in Islamabad earlier Thursday. The judge said he would take up the defamation case against Asif on June 14.
PMLN leader’s lawyer, Advocate Ali Shah Geelani, appears before the court at the hearing, but his cross-examination of Khan’s statement postponed. Court officials granted Khan’s counsel’s request to adjourn the hearing, which adjourned until September 24.
Khawaja Asif case in 2012
In 2012, Imran Khan filed a defamation suit against Khawaja Asif seeking the recovery of Rs10 billion as the latter had said that money laundering and misappropriation of funds were involved with the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust. Khawaja Asif’s lawyer, Advocate Ali Shah Geelani, appeared before the court and said his client was ready for cross-examination. He said that the statement Khan disclosed to him so that he could prepare accordingly for Asif’s defense.
According to his lawsuit, the former prime minister referred to the defense minister’s press conference on August 1, 2012. In which he claimed the PTI supremo had lost a great deal of money donated to his cancer hospital in “real estate gambling”. A defamatory statement issued by Imran regarding these allegations.
An Islamabad High Court decided earlier this year to accept Khawaja Asif’s petition challenging the decision to deny him the right to cross-examine then prime minister Imran Khan over the defamation suit.
