Tag: defamation case

  • Meesha Shafi wins initial defamation case against ARY UK

    Meesha Shafi wins initial defamation case against ARY UK

    A High Court in the United Kingdom has found that New Vision TV, the broadcaster of ARY UK, has defamed singer Meesha Shafi in a December 2020 broadcast.

    The broadcast was aired by ARY UK on December 5, 2020, in which reports were presented by newsreaders and on tickers as evidence.

    In a preliminary hearing, the court found out that the channel had deliberately made defamatory remarks by implying that Meesha was failing to comply with court orders over two years and that the channel depicted Shafi as “someone who does not comply with legal requirements laid down by a court and engages in such behaviour repeatedly”.

    The channel is now required to submit its defence to the court by January 26, 2024.

    “Such an assertion would have the tendency of lowering the claimant [Ms Shafi] in the estimation of right-thinking people generally; it is contrary to the common shared values of our society for people to deliberately ignore court orders requiring them to attend court, and to do so repeatedly over an extended period…The claimant is a very high-profile Pakistani celebrity who has taken a leading role in the advancement of women’s rights, holding herself out as an example to society. Given the claimant’s standing, the words complained of are likely to have a seriously adverse impact on the way the claimant is treated, thus satisfying the seriousness threshold,” the court asserted.

    The court examined the evidence in the broadcast, which said: “She [Ms Shafi] came to Pakistan, did her work and left. Singer Meesha Shafi threw the court orders to the winds. She came to Pakistan, recorded a song, and then returned to Canada. She did not present herself in court. Ali Zafar has filed a defamation lawsuit against Meesha.”

    In 2018, Ms Shafi accused singer and actor Ali Zafar of sexual harassment, in what was thought to be the first #MeToo moment in Pakistan.

  • UK Court rules that Murtaza Ali Shah was ‘defamed’ through a campaign by PTI leaders

    UK Court rules that Murtaza Ali Shah was ‘defamed’ through a campaign by PTI leaders

    A United Kingdom (UK) High Court Judge has ruled that the words used by three Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders against London-based journalist Murtaza Ali Shah are “defamatory” at common law and that he was defamed through a campaign.

    Murtaza had himself moved the court against PTI leaders Mohammad Imran, Shanaz Hussain (typically known as Shanaz Saddique) and Riaz Hussain after they launched a defamatory social media campaign against him in 2020. Shah’s reporting on Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court after the Assets Recovery Unit paid a spy agency to investigate Justice Isa’s children led to the defamatory campaign against the journalist.

    The former ruling party has distanced itself from the matter. A spokesman of PTI UK said the three were clearly told by PTI leadership that their campaign against the reporter is personal.

    It is pertinent to mention here that one of the PTI leaders—Shanaz Hussain— was found guilty of forging her husband’s signature in 2012.

    In March 2023, at a preliminary trial on the meaning of the defamatory words used by these leaders, a judge said that “these are serious allegations to make against a professional journalist”.

  • Rahul Gandhi sentenced to two years in jail for speaking against Modi

    Rahul Gandhi sentenced to two years in jail for speaking against Modi

    Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been found guilty of defaming Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi by a court in western India and sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday.

    He was given bail and the sentence was suspended for 30 days.

    The criminal defamation case was filed against Gandhi by a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a speech during the 2019 general election in which he referred to the surname Modi and asked how all thieves had the surname.

    However, he said that he had made the comment to highlight corruption and not against any community.

    Modi’s government has been widely accused of using the defamation law to target and silence critics. Gandhi faces at least two other defamation cases elsewhere in the country.

    It is pertinent to mention that despite wide-spread accusations of promoting hatred against Muslims, with increasing attacks against the community, Modi is the most popular politician in India by a substantial margin.

    It is expected that in 2024, Gandhi will stand against Modi for prime ministership.

  • Fact Check: Is the viral video of Shehbaz Sharif with UK lawyer legit?

    Fact Check: Is the viral video of Shehbaz Sharif with UK lawyer legit?

    Claim: A video of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (PM) in London is being shared on social media.

    Users are claiming that the video depicts the Premier sitting in a court in the United Kingdom (UK) where he and his son-in-law, Imran Ali Yousaf, are being panelised in the Daily Mail defamation case.

    Shehbaz Sharif had sued the Daily Mail in 2019 for an article which had suggested that he along with Yousaf “stole British taxpayers’ money” given to Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) set up to help the victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

    In this particular video, the man sitting next to Sharif can be heard saying, “Mr Sharif misappropriated UK taxpayers’ money and particular government aid intended for the victims of the devasting 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.”

    Fact: The video is of a press conference held by Sharif himself in 2020, in which he formally launched a defamation suit against journalist David Rose and Daily Mail and Associated Newspaper Limited (ANL) — the publishers of Mail Online.

    The disclosure of formal court action was made at a press conference at the offices of British law firm Carter-Ruck by Alasdair Pepper and Antonia Foster, who are representing Shehbaz in his legal case against the paper. Shehbaz was present with his lawyers at the press conference where the announcement was made.

    The lawyer said that Carter-Ruck had decided to move the court after failing to get a substantive response from the newspaper despite several requests over a passage of several months. He said that in nearly seven months the Mail had refused to engage with Sharif’s lawyer.

    Pepper argued that the article in the Mail, followed by a social media campaign launched by journalist David Rose, was gravely defamatory for Shehbaz, carrying false allegations that he misappropriated UK taxpayers’ money in the form of aid intended for the victims of the devastating 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) official Twitter account also corrected the false claim and blamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for spreading “lies”.

    Verdict: FALSE

  • Daily Mail defamation case: UK court directs PM Shehbaz to deposit nearly Rs8 million

    Daily Mail defamation case: UK court directs PM Shehbaz to deposit nearly Rs8 million

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was ordered by London High Court to deposit £30,000 (Rs7.8 million or almost Rs80 lac) through his lawyer by November 23 after the premier’s advocates applied unilaterally to the court to withdraw the stay application in favour of the trial proceedings to go ahead in Daily Mail defamation case, reports Geo News.

    This “stay” was agreed between all parties — Daily Mail publishers, Shehbaz Sharif and his son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf — in agreement but then Shehbaz Sharif’s lawyers decided to withdraw the “stay” just ahead of the case management hearing where the dates for the trials were to be set.

    The purpose of the costs and case management hearing is to set directions for the case to proceed to trial and to consider the parties’ costs budgets, i.e. their estimated costs of the proceedings to a conclusion.

    The court has also asked Sharif’s lawyers to submit a comprehensive reply to Daily Mail’s defence within a month or the case could be struck out.

    Earlier, PM Shehbaz’s request for an indefinite adjournment, in this case, was denied by a court. The court had said that if PM Shahbaz and Imran fail to respond to Daily Mail’s lawyers in court, they would have to pay the defendant all the cost of the legal proceedings.

    In July 2019, renowned media law firm Carter-Ruck sued British newspaper The Mail on Sunday, online news site Mail Online and its journalist David Rose on behalf of Shehbaz Sharif for publishing a “politically motivated” article. The story, published on July 14, 2019, had suggested that Shehbaz and Yousaf “stole British taxpayers’ money” given to Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) set up to help the victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

    Earlier this year, London High Court ruled that the article by reporter Rose carried the highest level of defamation (Chase level 1 – the highest form of defamation in English law) against both Shehbaz Sharif and his son-in-law.

  • Court allows PML-N’s Khawaja Asif to cross-examine PM Khan

    Court allows PML-N’s Khawaja Asif to cross-examine PM Khan

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has allowed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Khawaja Asif to cross-examine Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan with reference to the premier’s defamation case against him.

    During the hearing, headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, the civil court directed to conclude the proceedings within two months, states Dawn.

    Barrister Haider Rasool, the counsel for Asif argued that since 2012 his client had sought adjournment 28 times while the court adjourned the proceedings on PM’s request on nearly 50 occasions.

    The court observed that it was the defendant’s [Khawaja] right to cross-examine the PM.

    Earlier this year, the high court had sought a reply from the premier.

    Back in 2012, the premier had filed the defamation suit against Asif for recovery of Rs10 billion as the latter at a press conference levelled allegations about misappropriation of funds and money laundering through the Shaukat Khanam funds.

  • ARY UK apologises to Ishaq Dar on air over fabricated allegations

    ARY UK apologises to Ishaq Dar on air over fabricated allegations

    A private channel New Vision TV, the broadcaster of ARY UK, has issued an apology on air to the former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is currently residing in London.

    In an apology aired by ARY UK, the channel said, “We unconditionally apologise to Ishaq Dar for the significant distress, upset and embarrassment which these broadcasts have caused him.”

    “Dar never managed the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), never impeded its work, nor did he do anything to protect anybody in any case including the alleged Chaudhry Sugar Mills case”.

    According to Dawn, the defamatory remarks were made in two news shows which were aired in 2019. A transcript of the Special Minister Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar’s claims on the show that Dar did not allow the FMU to function.  It was also alleged that Dar had taken these steps to protect individuals involved in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills money laundering case.

    Sources told Dawn that Dar issued proceedings against the channel in July 2020 and later served a claim in the UK High Court. In 2021, ARY UK made an offer for amends — a procedure in which a defendant in an action for defamation may make a written offer to publish an apology and pay damages. Acceptance of such an offer terminates defamation proceedings and parties settle the matter between themselves.

    Dar along with a restriction and an apology had claimed damages for libel of around 200,000 pounds.

    In a statement shared with Dawn, the former minister said, “I have never been involved in corruption or any unlawful activity and never used any influence against any institution. The allegations made by the pro-government media house and Shahzad Akbar were aimed at damaging my reputation but Allah SWT has been most kind and the TV channel has accepted in the UK judicial process that the allegations were fabricated, false and untrue. The TV channel has accepted that I was maligned and nothing wrong has been done by me.”

  • Daily Mail yet to submit evidence in Shehbaz Sharif’s defamation case

    Daily Mail yet to submit evidence in Shehbaz Sharif’s defamation case

    The Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publishers of The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, are yet to submit evidence in Shehbaz Sharif’s defamation case after seven months of delay, reports Murtaza Ali Shah for Geo News.

    Earlier this year in February, Justice Sir Matthew Nicklin of the London High Court ruled that the article by reporter David Rose carried the highest level of defamation (Chase level 1 – the highest form of defamation in English law) against both Shehbaz Sharif and his son-in-law Ali Imran Yousaf.

    The Daily Mail has asked for three extensions, citing [previous] continuing travel restrictions and Pakistan’s Red listing as its team was unable to visit Pakistan to collect evidence, as per sources. However, now that the ban has been lifted, the Mail’s lawyer’s third extension is going to end in a few days.

    In July 2019, renowned media law firm Carter-Ruck sued British newspaper The Mail on Sunday, online news site Mail Online and its journalist David Rose on behalf of Shehbaz Sharif for publishing a “politically motivated” article. The story, published on July 14, 2019, had suggested that Shehbaz and his son-in-law Ali Imran Yousaf “stole British taxpayers’ money” given to Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) set up to help the victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

  • Zulfi Bukhari to send defamation notice to Bilawal Bhutto

    Zulfi Bukhari to send defamation notice to Bilawal Bhutto

    Former Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari says he has decided to move ahead with defamation proceedings against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after consulting with his legal team.

    Bhukari tweeted, “His [Bilawal Bhutto’s] poor understanding about most things again made him blurt out things fed to him, provoking issues he knows nothing about.”

    Bilawal Bhutto had recently called on the government to bring “all the facts” about Bukhari’s alleged visit to Israel before the public.

    Speaking to reporters in the parliament, Bilawal Bhutto said it would be “very easy” for the government to make public the flight manifest and flight path of the airplane that allegedly carried Bukhari to Israel during those dates.

    “If the [airplane] did not pick up Zulfi Bukhari, then who was taken on board” he asked, adding that he felt “something is fishy.”

    After Bilawal Bhutto’s statement, Zulfi Bukhari shared a clip of Bilawal’s speech and asked: “Someone who called Jews ‘brothers’ is now asking me to answer rumours.”

    Earlier this week, an Israeli publication alleged that Bukhari paid a secret visit to Tel Aviv as a messenger of Pakistani leader, a claim that was instantly denied by the government and personally by Bukhari.