ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that the PTI founder chairman Imran Khan’s lawyers had got a total of 75 adjournments before submitting a written reply in the Rs10 billion defamation case filed against him by Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
A three-member bench of the court, headed by Justice Ayesha A. Malik, heard the review petition filed by Imran against its order, upholding the Lahore High Court verdict, striking off his right to defence.
Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim were the two other members of the bench.
Mustafa Ramday, the counsel for Shehbaz Sharif, highlighted the prolonged nature of the case and repeated adjournments, stating that the PTI founder’s lawyers had secured 75 adjournments before filing the written response.
He further informed the court that Imran Khan’s counsel did not raise any substantial legal point regarding the review of the Supreme Court’s decision, nor did they point out any error or flaw in the judgment.
Ramday submitted that his client had filed the defamation suit in July 2017, but the reply from the other side was submitted after a delay of four years.
Similarly, the counsel contended that Imran Khan’s lawyer failed to present any solid legal grounds for review and did not identify any mistake in the court’s decision.
Justice Kakar remarked that even after the amended reply was submitted, the interrogatory responses from the PTI founder had not been provided for nine months.
Referring to the previous hearings, Ramday said although the incident, in which Imran Khan was shot, was unfortunate, his unavailability on November 17 and 24 was not cited as a ground. Instead, time was sought in October and November 2022 on the basis of his injury, and at times adjournments were requested on the basis of possible future appeals.
Justice Kakar observed that Shehbaz Sharif’s amended reply had been submitted on March 8, after which additional time was requested due to signatures by junior lawyers and other reasons.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing until today (Wednesday). Ramday will continue his arguments.
In another case, involving an attack on Jam Mehtab Ahmed Dahar MPA and the killing of a person, a two-member bench of the court granted interim bail to former provincial assembly member Shahryar Khan Shar and his son Jahangir Khan Shar.
Heading the bench, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, granted interim bail to the accused, directing them to submit surety bonds of Rs500,000 each.
Notices were issued to the parties, and further hearing of the case has been adjourned until April 27.
It is pertinent to mention that the accused are charged with attacking Jam Mehtab Ahmed Dahar during which a man, Zafar, was killed.
