National

Court fines Imran Khan second time in Khawaja Asif defamation case

ISLAMABAD, Oct 01 (SABAH): A court in Islamabad has again slapped a fine of Rs5,000 on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan for seeking adjournment in his Rs10 billion defamation case filed against PML-N senior leader and Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

Imran Khan had also been fined Rs5,000 during the last hearing of the case.

Imran Khan’s counsel moved an application in the court praying that his client could not appear in court due to his engagement in another meeting. The main lawyer was also not available as he was out of the country, he added.

Additional Sessions Judge Adnan Khan then deferred the cross-examination by Khawaja Asif’s lawyers on Imran Khan’s statement until October 22.

The judge accepted Imran Khan’s adjournment application with Rs5,000 fine.

During the last hearing, the court had also imposed a fine of Rs5,000 on the Chairman PTI for seeking an adjournment in the hearing due to his engagement in the party’s ongoing rallies.

Earlier this year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had accepted Asif’s petition challenging the decision to disallow the right to cross-examine then premier with reference to Khan’s defamation case against him.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the case should be heard on a daily basis and decided in due course.

He further stated that the court would order the trial court to decide the case within two months.

During the proceedings, the court asked Khawaja Asif’s lawyer why he was postponing the case, claiming that he was unnecessarily delaying the case, cautioning him against doing so.

The PTI chief, in 2012, had filed a defamation suit worth Rs10 billion against Asif for leveling allegations of non-transparency, money laundering and use of anonymous companies in Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust funds.

In his lawsuit, the former prime minister had referred to Asif’s press conference from August 1, 2012, in which he alleged that the PTI supremo had lost a massive amount of funds donated to his cancer hospital in “real estate gambling”. Khan termed the allegations ‘false and defamatory’.