KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has fined Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan Rs50,000 for not recording his statements before the court in a case regarding the Rs5 billion libel suit filed against him by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Previously, the court deprived the PTI chief Imran Khan and his counsel of submitting a written statement as they did not appear before the court when the case was filed.

Today, Imran Khan's counsel Advocate Musharraf Azhar appeared before the court to request the court to take back the previous ruling.

Justice Shafi Siddiqi accepted the request and fined Khan Rs50,000, adding that the PTI chief must appear before the court in the next hearing and submit his statements.

Know more: MQM files Rs5bn defamation suit against Imran Khan

In 2013, the MQM filed a Rs5 billion defamation suit against PTI chairman Imran Khan at the Sindh High Court for issuing statements against MQM chief Altaf Hussain, DawnNews had reported.

MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar had earlier said that half an hour after senior PTI leader Zehra Shahid Husain was killed on the eve of re-polls in Karachi's NA-250 constituency, the bed-ridden PTI chief, who was seriously injured when he tumbled off the stage during his election campaign, had levelled allegations against Altaf Hussain.

Sattar had added at that time that no case had been registered nor had any investigations taken place yet Imran Khan had announced his verdict.

He had further said that the PTI chief should tender an apology for levelling baseless allegations against Altaf Hussain.