LAHORE: The Sharif family was having a damages suit prepared against Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri for his diatribe against it (the family) in his Sept 3 Rawalpindi public address before he departed for London on Thursday last.

Sources close to the family said on Sunday that the legal experts of the family had assessed the public address of Dr Qadri and had declared it a trap for himself.

They were convinced that the allegations leveled by Dr Qadri against the prime minister accusing him of hatching a conspiracy against the country, and holding the PML-N government responsible for the terrorist attacks in Mardan and Peshawar, were baseless. And, therefore, a damages suit worth billions of rupees could be filed against him in a court of law.

Sources said that Dr Qadri’s allegation that 300 Indians were working in the factories of the Sharif families was also found to be a strong point to be agitated in the damages suit.

They said that the filing of the suit had been stalled after the departure of Dr Qadri abroad. But it could be filed anytime if found necessary. “Maybe Dr Qadri had got a wind of the suit and opted out,” a source claimed.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2016