LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif for the daily hearing of his defamation case against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Upholding the objection of the registrar office, the LHC directed the petitioner to approach the concerned forum of the directorate general of the district judiciary.
The registrar office had earlier raised objections to the petition, stating that the petitioner should first approach the concerned aforementioned forum.
Earlier in the day, Shehbaz approached LHC over a ‘constant delay’ in the proceedings on his defamation suit against the premier. The PML-N president had made the PM and an additional district and sessions judge as respondents. The judge is conducting the trial of the case.
According to the petitioner, the prime minister’s alleged false, malicious and baseless statements had tarnished his image and he seeks recovery of Rs10 billion in damages. In his plea, Shehbaz, who is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, stated that his repeated requests before the respondent judge to proceed expeditiously in the case went in vain.
He maintained that the concerned judge had not even allowed arguments on the applications filed by the petitioner related to the closure of the right to file written statement by PM Imran, and also to try and conduct the hearing on a day-to-day basis.
“The acts of the omission and commission on the part of respondent PM Imran are in complete violation and in utter disregard of the law and its spirit, reducing the judicial system as a mockery which requires intervention from the court,” the petitioner stated.
Shehbaz highlighted that around 83 proceedings were conducted on the petition, out of which more than 60 times, the respondent had sought adjournment ‘with different tactics’.
The petitioner prayed to the court to pass directions to the concerned judge for conducting the trial on a day-to-day basis to avoid permitting the premier from indulging in further acts to frustrate, suspend and sabotage the trial of the suit.
