PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench has turned down the plea of Prime Minister Imran Khan for the transfer of a defamation suit filed against him by former MPA Fauzia Bibi in Peshawar to a Swabi court, which is hearing an almost identical lawsuit of former lawmaker Meraj Humayun Khan.

Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan ruled that since the petition didn’t agitate any good ground for the case transfer, it stood dismissed for ‘being without any substance’.

Both Ms Fauzia and Ms Meraj have filed lawsuits in Peshawar and Swabi respectively against Mr Imran for accusing them in a news conference of selling votes in the 2018 Senate elections.

Ms Fauzia was elected an MPA on a seat reserved for women in the 2013 polls on the PTI ticket and Ms Meraj on a similar seat as a Qaumi Watan Party nominee. Ms Meraj had joined the PTI in Mar 2018.

PHC rules petition is without substance

Deputy attorney general Mohammad Habib Qureshi appeared for Mr Imran and said both defamation suits were based on a news conference addressed by Mr Imran on Apr 19, 2018.

He said the presser was addressed by the premier in pursuance of a report submitted by the PTI’s disciplinary committee and that show cause notices were served on the two plaintiffs by committee member Naeemul Haq.

The deputy attorney general said the same set of evidence and witnesses would be required to prove or disprove the respective issues, so it would be appropriate and in the interest of justice that both lawsuits should be consolidated for hearing by a single court.

“In order to avoid conflicting judgments on the subject, it is mandatory to club both lawsuits to avoid multiplicity of litigation. It will be in the interest of justice to transfer the case from Peshawar to Swabi,” he contended.

Lawyer Syed Ghufranullah Shah appeared in the court for Ms Fauzia, while Ms Meraj Humayun showed up along with her counsel, Ayaz Majid.

Mr Shah pointed out that the case of his client had been pending with the Peshawar court since June 2018 and there was no justification for its transfer to Swabi.

He added that the lawsuit of his client was filed before Ms Meraj did so.

The lawyer contended that from time to time, Mr Imran had been filing different applications before the trial court as well as the high court to delay the trial in Peshawar.

He said the petitioner hadn’t been filing reply to the lawsuit filed by his client for the last over two years and for that reason, the trial court had decided on Feb 13 to start ex parte proceedings against him.

Additional district and sessions judge Abdul Majid will hear the lawsuit of Ms Fauzia on Mar 6.

Few days ago, an application was filed by the prime minister before the trial court requesting him to set aside his Feb 13 order to hear the defamation suit against the premier ex parte.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2018 under the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, with PTI chief Imran Khan, who later became the country’s prime minister, being the only defendant in it.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2021