ISLAMABAD - Former Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari on Thursday served a defamation notice of worth £100 million to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for hurling allegations against him of secretly visiting Israel.
“After consulting with my legal team, I’ve decided to move ahead with defamation proceedings against Bilawal Zardari for his recent irresponsible remarks,” the former SAPM and a close friend to Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a Twitter post. “His (Bilawal) poor understanding about most things again made him blurt out things fed to him, provoking issues he knows nothing about.”
The former special assistant served the notice through his lawyer after the PPP chairman, earlier this week, had urged the PTI government to reveal the details of Zulfi Bukhari’s alleged visit to Israel. He demanded investigations into his alleged landing in a country that Pakistan does not recognize.
The PPP chairman had given the statement on June 28 after Israel Hayom newspaper reported quoting an “unnamed source in Islamabad” that Bukhari had travelled to Israel last year to meet the then Mossad chief Yossi Cohen besides other senior government officials.
The same day, Bukhari had denied the news report and said,” “Did not go to Israel.” The Foreign Office also had rejected the report and termed it “baseless and misleading.”
In the notice, Bukhari has asked Bilawal to acknowledge written receipt of the notice, withdraw his comments clearly in black and white, publicly apologize at national media, give an undertaking that he will not utter such defamatory remarks against him again at any forum, and propose payment for damages caused.
The legal notice also states that if Bilawal fails to comply within 14 days, then legal proceedings would be instituted against him in the court of law “seeking full enforcement of the client’s rights that reside against you and otherwise applicable under the law.” This may also include a claim for special damages amounting to a minimum of GBP 100 million.”
The notice said that Bukhari also reserves the right to initiate legal action against him on grounds other than defamation.