PESHAWAR: Awami National Party’s central president Asfandyar Wali Khan on Wednesday served a legal notice on provincial information minister Shaukat Yousafzai asking him to tender a public apology for making ‘defamatory accusations’ against him during a news conference.

He warned that if the minister didn’t apologise, a defamation suit of Rs100 million would be filed against him.

The ANP leader served the notice under Section 8 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, through senior advocate and president of Peshawar High Court Bar Association Abdul Lateef Afridi.

The notice said Mr Yousafzai should retract his defamatory statement within 14 days and tender a public apology and the same should be published with the same prominence as his ‘defamatory’ statement.

It added that the joint opposition parties had held a rally on July 25 in the suburbs of Peshawar, where thousands of people were in attendance.

A spokesperson for the provincial government, Mr Yousafzai had held a news conference against a public meeting of the opposition parties and that was covered by different Urdu dailies.

The notice said while criticising the opposition leaders, the minister defamed Mr Asfandyar by alleging that he had sold out Pashtuns for $25 million.

It added that no reason, ground, evidence or justification in the background was mentioned but he directly charged the ANP leader in a defamatory language.

“Asfandyar Wali Khan is the son of late Khan Abdul Wali Khan and grandson of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Bacha Khan, who are among the prominent and internationally known leaders of the freedom movement and they have left an impact on the politics in Pakistan,” it said.

The notice said the ANP leader had been elected MNA four times, served as senator and was elected to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2019