SHC issues contempt notice to Ansar Abbasi
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to The News Editor Investigations Ansar Abbasi, his counsel Jam Asif Mehmood, and The News and the Jang publications on a contempt application filed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Secretary Information MNA Fauzia Wahab in her lawsuit for defamation.
The plaintiff submitted an application that the SHC had restrained the defendant from making any statement\publication against her veracity whereof he is unable to corroborate such a statement on its June 8 order. However, the defendant in violation of the court order published uncorroborated and offensive material on June 11 not only against the plaintiff but also the court. The SHC’s single bench comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar expressed annoyance over the publishing of comments on the court’s stay order. The court adjourned the hearing till June 28 on request of the defendant’s counsel and continued the interim stay order restraining the defendant from making statement/publication against the plaintiff veracity whereof he is unable to corroborate such a statement.
Fauzia Wahab filing a Rs 200 billion lawsuit for defamation against Ansar Abbasi submitted that the defendant, who is a senior and well-known journalist, has in a television programme telecast on a private TV channel on May 10 stated that ‘if it was up to (Mrs Fauzia Wahab) she would cut our throats’ (in ka bas chale to hamari gardan utar dain). The counsel submitted that the statement being untrue is mala fide and also defamatory under Section 3 (1) of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002.
The News Editor Investigations, however, denied the allegations levelled against him in the lawsuit and questioned the maintainability of the lawsuit. He submitted in his counter affidavit that he had no intention to defame the plaintiff in any way. He said comments in question attributed to him were not against the plaintiff but her party as PPP leadership including its co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari indirectly started adventurism against the Jang Group and its journalists for exposing the government failure. He submitted the plaintiff neither had raised any objection over his remarks after the recording of the programme nor she asked programme host to edit the remarks if she had any grievance.
Source: The News
Date:6/22/2010
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