Defamation tribunal orders Punjab Assembly opposition leader to pay Rs3m to Azma Bokhari

LAHORE: The Punjab Defamation Tribunal on Tuesday ruled in favour of Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari in a defamation suit against Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Moeen Riaz Qureshi, ordering him to pay Rs3 million in general damages. In January, Bokhari filed the defamation suit against Qureshi seeking damages of Rs800 million. She filed the claim against the opposition leader, alleging that he made “baseless and fabricated” accusations against her. In a short order issued on Tuesday, the tribunal said that the counsel for both parties had concluded their final arguments. “The claim of the plaintiff is hereby decreed up to the extent of general damages amounting to Rupees three million (Rs3,000,000),” said tribunal member Anjum Raza Syed in an order seen by Dawn . However, the tribunal dismissed the minister’s claim for special and punitive damages.

Meanwhile, the PTI said in its statement that its MPA was told to pay Rs84m in damages. Bokhari’s counsel argued that the defendant, Qureshi, had acknowledged making the remarks in question during a television programme but had failed to produce any evidence to substantiate the allegations. The tribunal said a detailed judgment would be issued separately. The information minister had filed the suit following allegations Qureshi levelled at the time of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s then-chief minister Sohail Afridi’s visit to the Punjab Assembly . He had alleged that the provincial minister got 200 paid individuals into the assembly premises, and that the journalists who put questions to Afridi were her salaried employees. ‘Attempt to respond to criticism with fines’ Commenting on the verdict, Qureshi wrote on X: “The voice I raise in favour of the people’s rights, the supremacy of the Constitution, and Imran Khan cannot…