Islamabad court imposes Rs 5,000 fine on Imran Khan for seeking adjournment in Khawaja Asif defamation case

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 10 (ANI): Islamabad court on Saturday imposed Rs 5,000 fine on former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan for seeking adjournment in the Rs 10 billion Khawaja Asif defamation case.
Khan’s lawyer sought an adjournment in the hearing due to his busy schedule and the court accepted Khan’s counsel’s request; adjourned hearing till September 24, reported Geo News.
Additional Sessions Judge Adnan Khan imposed a fine of Rs5,000 on the PTI chief for seeking an adjournment in the hearing due to his involvement in the ongoing relief operation for the flood victims in Sindh.
Khan had filed the defamation suit against Khawaja Asif in 2012 for recovery of Rs 10 billion as the latter had at a press conference levelled allegations about misappropriation of and money laundering through the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) funds, reported Geo News.
In his lawsuit, the former prime minister had referred to the defence minister’s press conference from August 1, 2012, in which he alleged that the PTI supremo had lost a massive amount of funds donated to his cancer hospital in “real estate gambling”. Khan termed the allegations “false and defamatory”.
Earlier this year, the Islamabad High Court accepted Khawaja Asif’s petition challenging the decision to disallow the right to cross-examine then prime minister Imran Khan with reference to the defamation case against him.
Meanwhile, Khan’s party has called for nationwide protests on Saturday against the “minus-one formula”, a term used by PTI to describe the government’s attempts to try and disqualify PTI Chairman from elections, media reports said.
The PTI has called for the protests to express their solidarity with their chief Imran Khan. This is a fresh phase of its anti-government campaign which was announced by PTI, Pakistan’s local media outlet Dawn.
Earlier, the Islamabad capital city police Saturday summoned PTI Chairman Imran Khan again to appear before a joint investigation team (JIT) probing a terrorism case against him. The notice was issued after the former prime minister failed to appear before the JIT at the Margalla Police Station in a case lodged against him for allegedly threatening a lower court judge, Zeba Chaudhry.
The notice mentioned that Khan is on bail in the case till September 12, therefore, he should appear before the investigation team at 5 pm Saturday to ensure that he answers its questions.
The Islamabad High Court on Thursday decided to indict the former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on September 22 after giving an “unsatisfactory” response in the contempt of court case. (ANI)