Minister Wins Defamation Case Against Opposition Leader

Key Points:

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has won a defamation case against opposition leader Moin Riaz Qureshi.
The Lahore Defamation Tribunal has ordered Mr Qureshi to pay Rs3 million in damages to the minister.
The tribunal held that the opposition leader himself admitted making the remarks and presented no evidence for the allegations.

LAHORE: Punjab Information and Culture Minister Azma Bukhari has won a defamation case against Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Moin Riaz Qureshi and the Lahore Defamation Tribunal has ordered him to pay Rs3 million in damages to her.

The minister had filed a claim of Rs84 million under the Defamation Act in the Lahore Defamation Tribunal on the basis of statements the opposition leader had made in a programme of a private TV channel.

In his statement, Mr Qureshi had alleged that on the occasion of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s visit to the Punjab Assembly, Ms Bukhari had brought 150 to 200 paid individuals into the assembly.

He had also alleged that the journalists who put questions to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi were the minister’s paid employees.

Ms Bukhari had termed the allegations completely false and fabricated and a malicious attempt to damage her reputation. She then initiated legal proceedings against the opposition leader and her counsel Ali Bukhari presented arguments in the case.

According to the tribunal, Mr Qureshi himself admitted that he had made the remarks in the TV programme. The tribunal held that no evidence had been presented from his side that could prove the basis of the allegations.

It further held that his lawyers also failed to disprove the minister’s claim through their arguments. The tribunal has issued a short order in the case and the detailed judgment will be issued later.