LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday reserved its decision on a petition by incarcerated PTI founding chairman Imran Khan challenging the jurisdiction of a trial judge hearing a Rs10bn defamation suit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against the former.

Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal heard the arguments from PTI’s lawyer before reserving the decision.

Advocate Muhammad Hussain Chotia argued PM Shehbaz had filed the defamation suit of Rs10 billion and an additional district & sessions judge had been hearing the case.

He raised an objection that a district judge does not have the jurisdiction to hear a suit involving a claim of Rs10 billion, as district judges can only hear cases involving claims up to Rs50 million.

The lawyer argued that a defamation claim of Rs10 billion can be tried by a district judge only after being notified by the LHC chief justice.

He asked the court to issue a restraining order against additional district & sessions judge from hearing the defamation case.

The suit pending since 2017 says Mr Khan wrongly accused PM Shehbaz of offering Rs10bn to him through a common friend in exchange for withdrawing the case of Panama Papers from the Supreme Court.

Shehbaz said Mr Khan leveled baseless allegations on him, seeking a decree for recovery of Rs10bn as compensation from the defendant for publication of defamatory content.

The PTI leader had filed his reply to the suit with a delay of four years in 2021, saying one of his friends told him that someone known to him and also the Sharif family approached him with an offer to pay billions of rupees if he could convince him (Mr Khan) to stop pursuing the Panama case.

Mr Khan said he disclosed the incident for the consumption of the public at large and an act in the interest of the public good does not constitute any defamation.

The reply maintained that Mr Khan did not specifically attribute any statement to the plaintiff (PM Shehbaz) while narrating the incident.

The district judge had on May 5, 2023 turned down a request of Imran to dismiss the defamation suit on technical grounds, directing him to present his evidence.

The LHC had on Dec 17, 2024, rejected a request of the PTI leader to set aside a trial court’s decision of not summoning Shehbaz in person for recording his statement in the defamation suit.

Dismissing the application as not maintainable, the court had ruled that the law empowers a court to record statements of a party in a civil suit through personal appearance or submission of an affidavit.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2025