Malik files Rs 1b defamation suit against media group

Interior Minister Malik has filed a defamation suit in Islamabad High Court against a private media group for publishing a ‘false’ news story against him. A single bench of Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman on Monday heard the defamation suit. The plaintiff filed a suit worth Rs 1 billion against five members of a private media group for publishing a false story.
Making the chief executive officer, editor, managing editor, bureau chief and a reporter of the said media group respondents, the interior minister sued the five members for Rs 1 billion, contending that they had published a false story against him regarding his meeting with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director General Zafar Qureshi, who was heading the investigations of NICL scam.
Through his lawyer, Rehman Malik contended that on July 6, the said group published a story in their English and Urdu daily, in which the newspaper claimed that he (Malik) offered four options to Zafar Qureshi to disassociate himself from the NICL scam. He pled that this story had defamed him. The said newspaper in a news story had claimed that Malik had tried to coerce the FIA investigation officer, who was probing the multibillion rupee scam, into giving up the investigations.
The newspaper reported that Qureshi was given four options which included going into exile, withdrawing from the scam inquiry or releasing Moonis Elahi, but the officer rejected the offers made by the interior minister. The plaintiff further submitted before the court that after the publishing of the said story, he had contacted the respondents asking for a publishing rebuttal, but they had denied.
The petitioner, through his lawyer, prayed the court that the respondents be directed to pay damages for mental anguish, loss to reputation and special damage. After hearing arguments the judge summoned the respondents on the next hearing on October 19.