LONDON: The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has refused permission to appeal in a libel case filed by former ISI officer Rashid Naseer against former Pakistan Army major-turned-blogger Adil Raja, upholding a £50,000 damages award and an injunction.

In an order dated March 3, Lord Justice Warby dismissed Raja’s applications to challenge a 2025 High Court ruling that found him liable for defamatory social media posts published in June 2022.

The dispute arose from nine posts accusing Naseer of involvement in election rigging, fraud, bribery, corruption and abuse of power.

Naseer sued for libel in England and Wales, where Raja currently resides. At trial in July 2025, the court examined whether the posts caused “serious harm” to Naseer’s reputation under Section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 and whether Raja could rely on the public interest defence under Section 4 of the Act.

In a reserved judgement delivered on October 9 last year, the trial judge ruled that serious harm had been proven. The court awarded Naseer £50,000 in damages, granted an injunction restraining further publication, and ordered the publication of a summary of the judgement.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026