A high court in the UK has rejected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son-in-law Imran Ali Yousuf’s plea for extension in their defamation case against Associated Newspapers Limited, which owns the tabloid Daily Mail. The court also ordered Sharif to pay GBP 30,000 and Yousuf GBP 27,055 in legal fees due to delays cause by their failure to submit their replies.

In his order, Justice Matthew Nicklin ordered that the defamation cases of the two claimant would be heard together. It gave PM Shehbaz and his son till December 23 to submit their replies, failing which their defamation claim would be struck out.

It also gave a deadline for the payment of the legal fees, with PM Shehbaz given till November 23 for the payment of the complete GBP 30,000 (Rs7.8 million).

Yousuf has to pay the first installment of GBP 4,509 on the same date as PM Shehbaz. However, the total amount of the legal costs he has been ordered to pay - GBP 27,055 (Rs7.1 million) - has been broken dow into six installments paid at every 28-day interval.

According to reports, Sharif’s lawyer sought time from the court citing PM Shehbaz’s engagements due to being the head of government.

Upon this, it was reported, Justice Niklin rejected the request with the remark that the prime minister and the common man are equal in his court.

Background

Shahbaz Sharif filed the case against the Daily Mail and its journalist David Rose following the publication of an article claiming Shehbaz had embezzled money sent by a British development organisation for earthquake victims. Shahbaz Sharif was the Punjab chief minister at the time when the alleged embezzlement took place.

The PML-N chief had demanded damages in his lawsuit calling the Daily Mail’s allegations false and propaganda.

In March 2022, almost a year after Shahbaz Sharif filed the suit, Associated Newspapers Limited, the company that publishes the Daily Mail, filed its response in court and presented the evidence on the basis of which it had published the news.

Shehbaz Sharif’s lawyers were asked by the court to file a reply which has not been filed so far. Now the court has refused to give more time to Shahbaz Sharif.