Defamation case: Court accepts Khawaja Asif's plea to cross-examine witnesses

ISLAMABAD: The additional sessions judge accepted the plea of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) central leader Khawaja Asif to cross-examine witnesses in the defamation case, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The court summoned the witnesses on March 14 who had recorded their testimonies in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s defence in the defamation case against Khawaja Asif.

The lawyers assured the production two out of five witnesses in the next hearing.

A defamation suit had been filed against Khawaja Asif for his statement against Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital on November 15, 2012.

READ: KHAWAJA ASIF ALLOWED TO CROSS-EXAMINE IMRAN KHAN IN DEFAMATION CASE

Earlier in January, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued a notice to Prime Minister Imran Khan to submit comments on a petition by PML-N stalwart Khawaja Asif questioning the legality of the former’s statement in a defamation suit.

On December 17 last year, the prime minister had recorded his statement before Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Mohammad Adnan through a video link in the defamation suit he had filed against Khawaja Asif in 2012 for levelling allegations about irregularities and money laundering through the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) funds.

In his petition, the PML-N leader said the ADSJ deprived him of his right to cross-examination of the PM Imran Khan. He said he filed multiple applications for increasing the number of defence witnesses but the judge didn’t decide these applications and instead unilaterally proceeded with the matter. Asif had said the ADSJ recorded the statement of PM Khan in the absence of his counsel.