Pak-American tech entrepreneur wins defamation case

Pakistani-American tech entrepreneur Zia Chishti secured a win in his legal battle against Narratives Magazine over “false, defamatory and malicious allegations.”

The magazine had levelled serious accusations against Mr. Chishti, labelling his reputation as “toxic” and citing allegations of “sexual misconduct and violation of securities and other corporate laws against him”.

Zia Chishti is a serial tech entrepreneur who founded the multi-billion-dollar company behind Invisalign dental braces and founded the multi-billion-dollar artificial intelligence company Afiniti.  President Mamnoon Hussain awarded Chishti the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2018.

The Lahore High Court has ruled that Mr. Chishti was defamed without any basis and out of malice.  In a scathing ruling, Judge Muhammad Farhan Nabi stated that Narratives Magazine had offered no credible evidence whatsoever in its defense, and that the magazine had caused Mr. Chishti severe damage.  The Court awarded Chishti the largest defamation damages award in Pakistani history, stating that the editor “is also directed to publish a clarification along with apology in his magazine regarding the article in question.”

When reached for comment, Chishti stated: “I thank the Lahore High Court for providing me justice. I also want to thank my family and my closest friends for standing with me through exceptionally difficult times.  This is the first of many cases I intend to win as the truth increasingly comes to light.”

Harvard Professor Emeritus and renowned litigator Alan Dershowitz took a personal interest in the proceedings.

Chishti was represented in this case by barrister Mr. Faisal Nawaz.

After the verdict, Nawaz said: “I am proud to have represented Mr. Chishti in this case, and glad to see justice done. As the Court has ruled, Narratives Magazine acted with malice and with no basis in fact in attacking Mr. Chishti.”

It may be noted here that Chishti had filed several defamation lawsuits, including one against Britain’s powerful right-wing paper The Telegraph.  In late 2021 and early 2022 the Telegraph published a series of articles about Mr. Chishti. As with Narratives Magazine, the Telegraph had picked up on his former employee Ms. Tatiana Spottiswoode’s allegations against him, which were delivered in front of the U.S. Congress in November 2021.  Mr. Chishti is represented in the U.K. by Ms. Adrienne Page KC, who declined to comment based on the pendency of the proceedings.

Mr. Chishti has also sued Ms. Spottiswoode and her attorneys for defamation in the United States.  In his U.S. complaint he included text conversations with Ms. Spottiswoode that seemingly indicate a consensual relationship.  The evidence shows the relationship was based on mutual consent and trust, spread over months and years. In one communication Ms. Spottiswoode states that she was “looking forward … to being seduced and slowly undressed” by Chishti.

As a result of the allegations against him, in November 2021 Chishti stepped down from his leadership of TRG.  Since then, the Company has been led by Mr. Chishti’s former business associates Mr. Hasnain Aslam and Mr. Mohammed Khaishgi who have initiated litigation in both Pakistan and the U.S. against Mr. Chishti seeking to prevent him from retaking control of TRG, primarily taking the same line of argument levelled by Narratives Magazine, and now discredited by the Lahore High Court as being without basis.

In turn, ZiaChishti has accused Mr. Khaishgi and Mr. Aslam of various civil and criminal misconduct and called for a general meeting of shareholders to remove them from their positions on the board of TRG.

People associated with TRG declined to comment on the record.

Under Khaishgi and Aslam, TRG’s stock price has fallen approximately 60 percent from Rs 151 to Rs 62 while they have paid themselves over one billion rupees in compensation. Both have initiated litigation in both Pakistan and the U.S. against Mr. Chishti seeking to prevent him from retaking control of TRG, primarily taking the same line of argument levelled by Narratives Magazine, and now discredited by the Lahore High Court as being without basis.