LONDON: A YouTuber and former Pakistan Army officer has been ordered to pay £350,000 in damages and legal costs after a London high court ruled he had defamed a former intelligence officer with unfounded allegations of corruption and electoral interference.

In his ruling, Justice Richard Spear­man KC said that Adil Farooq Raja had failed to provide credible evidence for his claims that a former Pakistan intelligence official had engaged in corruption, influenced court proceedings, interfered in elections and conducted political dealings on behalf of senior military officials, Dawn.com reported.

The judge found that Raja had made “false and baseless” claims against a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer, retired Brig Rashid Naseer, across nine social media posts and videos.

Consequently, the court ordered Raja to pay £50,000 in damages and approximately £300,000 in legal costs to Nasir, who brought the defamation action.

The defamation suit was filed in August 2022, but was made public in April.

The judge noted that three witnesses called by Raja — journalist Shaheen Sehbai, former PTI official Shahzad Akbar, and Syed Akbar Hussain — had failed to provide testimony substantiating any of the allegations.

As part of the judgement, Raja must publish a summary of the verdict across his social media platforms, confirming his claims were untrue. He has also been ordered to issue an apology and provide written assurance that he will not repeat the allegations.

Despite the ruling, Raja struck a defiant note, writing on X, “Today is a disappointing day. The judge was not with us,” he posted, adding that his “resolve is undeterred despite today’s setback.”

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2025