PESHAWAR: Peshawar district and sessions judge Shehbar Khan on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan’s application for dismissal of a defamation suit against him.

Sacked provincial minister and Qaumi Watan Party leader Bakht Baidar Khan has filed the suit seeking damages to the tune of Rs1 billion from the PTI chief for defaming him through the media by leveling allegation of corruption against him.

Mr Imran had filed the application claiming that the suit was not maintainable as enough evidence were available against the plaintiff for his removal from the cabinet.

Dismissing the application, the court observed that prior to the recording of evidence, it would be inappropriate to dismiss the suit.

It fixed April 24 for the next hearing into the suit directing the plaintiff to prove his charge on the day.

The court also directed the plaintiff to submit list of witnesses within a week.

The court had reserved its order over the application few days ago after completion of arguments by both the sides.

The application was filed by Mr Imran under the Civil Procedure Code’s Rule 11, which empowers the court to dismiss a suit on the basis of its non-maintainability.

Babar Yousafzai and Kifayatullah Khan, lawyers for the plaintiff, said Mr Imran had leveled baseless allegations against their client and there was no justification available on the basis of which the plaint could be declared non-maintainable.

Lawyers for Mr Imran, including Qazi Mohammad Anwar and Aamir Jawed, had contended that the plaintiff was removed as minister by the provincial chief minister and not by their client and therefore, the lawsuit was not maintainable.

They said the PTI had won election because of its manifesto which was against corruption and that its government in the province had earlier warned the plaintiff to refrain from irregularities but he continued with it, so he was sacked from the cabinet.Mr Imran had also leveled several allegations against the plaintiff in his written statement submitted in reply to the lawsuit.

He had submitted around 1700 pages documents with his statement in support of his contentions saying these documents were proof of the corrupt practices of the plaintiff.

The plaintiff has claimed that Mr Imran had damaged his reputation and lowered his image in public eye by leveling baseless allegations against him.

He said he belonged to a respectable family of Chakdara area in Lower Dir district, and Mr Imran had damaged his reputation in the eyes of general public as well as the people of his constituency.