LAHORE: A sessions court on Saturday adjourned for arguments a private complaint on defamation charge against Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill, filed by a Turkish company.

The company has asked the court to punish the PM’s special assistant for leveling “baseless allegations” of corruption and kickbacks in a contract awarded by the last PML-N government for operating the Lahore Metro Bus service.

There was a heavy police presence outside the courtroom before Mr Gill arrived along with his legal team. The police personnel restricted the entry of the media persons and even the staff of the court till the hearing of plea against Mr Gill concluded.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Zulfiqar Ali adjourned the hearing till Jan 30, and also reserved the verdict on an application of Mr Gill seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case.

Talking to the media before the hearing, Gill said he felt embarrassment while visiting the court even in a ‘fake’ case against him.

Referring to the opposition leaders facing corruption charges, Gill said he was always surprised to see people making victory signs on their appearance before the courts.

The PML-N workers who were present inside the judicial complex, this time again spotted Mr Gill and chanted anti-government slogans. The workers of the opposition party were there for the hearing of cases against the party president Shehbaz Sharif. On the last hearing, Gill had to face sloganeering by the party workers.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021