ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday allowed PML-N leader Khawaja Asif’s petition seeking right to cross-examine Prime Minister Imran Khan in a defamation suit.
A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing of the petition of Kh Asif challenging the sessions court’s decision of not giving his counsel a right to present arguments in a defamation suit worth Rs10 billion filed by Prime Minister Imran Khan against him.
During the proceedings, the bench observed that cross-examining was the other party’s right. The judge said that the bench would direct the trial court to decide the case in two months. He said that the case should be heard regularly and instructed the trial court to conclude the case after conducting hearing on daily basis.
Imran Khan had filed the defamation suit against Kh Asif in 2012 for recovery of Rs10 billion as at a press conference, the latter had levelled allegations of misappropriation of funds and money laundering through the SKMT funds.
The prime minister had submitted an affidavit last month to Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Adnan via video link against the PML-N leader for levelling allegations of non-transparency, money laundering and use of anonymous companies in the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) funds.
Khan stated in the document submitted the court that on August 1, 2012, Kh Asif, while addressing a news conference held at the Punjab House, had alleged that Imran had indulged in money laundering or approved the commission of the practice through the SKMT. Later, the same evening at a private TV programme, he repeated the allegations.
