After 10 years, an Islamabad court pronounced the verdict in a defamation case against former premier Imran Khan filed by ex-CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary. Additional Sessions Judge Hasina Saqlain announced a detailed six-page judgment, rejecting Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary’s Rs 20b damages claim against the PTI founder. The court said the suit was filed in January 2015 over the 2013 election rigging allegations. In the defamation suit, it was said that the PTI founder levelled baseless and fabricated allegations against the judiciary. The court said that according to the claim, in the statement of June 27, 2014, the PTI founder used insulting words. The defamation claim was filed six months and 24 days later on January 20, 2015, it said, adding that according to the 2002 Act, a claim must be filed within six months and a claim is not filed within six months of the legally defamatory statement. Thus, the court added on this basis, the claim of the former CJ is rejected.
