Panama scandal: Pak PM names ‘frequent pal’ who provided Rs 1,000 crore bribe to withdraw case towards Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has lastly filed a reply in a defamation case and recognized a “common friend” who allegedly provided him Rs 1,000 crore on behalf of Shahbaz Sharif to withdraw the Panama Papers case within the Supreme Court towards then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Khan in 2017 had alleged that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shabaz provided him Rs 1,000 crore by a “common friend” to withdraw the Panama Papers case within the Supreme Court towards then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.Khan at the moment didn’t disclose the identification of the one who provided him the bribe on behalf of Shahbaz.Shahbaz, 69, is the youthful brother of 71-year-old Nawaz Sharif.Following Khan’s allegation, Shahbaz filed a defamation case towards the cricketer-turned-politician.In a written reply to Lahore session courtroom on Tuesday in response to the defamation go well with, Prime Minister Khan disclosed the title of the one who provided him Rs 1,000 crore to withdraw the Panama Papers case towards Sharif as Omar Farooq.”Omar Farooq — a common friend — made this offer to Imran Khan,” the prime minister’s counsel instructed the courtroom.The counsel stated the incident was disclosed for the consumption of the general public at giant and within the curiosity of the general public good which doesn’t represent any defamation.He stated the plaintiff and the defendant are political rivals and have been dealing with one another within the political area for greater than 20 years.Shahbaz himself made quite a few “defaming and malicious” statements towards Khan and different leaders of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in addition to different political events previously, the counsel stated, requesting the courtroom to dismiss the go well with because the PML-N chief is just not entitled to any damages.Additional District and Sessions Judge Mudassir Farid adjourned the listening to until August 4.In the 4 years, Khan’s authorized workforce sought adjournments on not less than 50 hearings.In his petition, Shahbaz requested the courtroom to challenge a decree for restoration of Rs 1,000 crore as compensation for the “defamatory” remark, which precipitated nice harm to his popularity within the public.In an announcement on Wednesday, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb demanded an apology from Prime Minister Khan for levelling baseless allegations towards the Opposition chief.Calling him a “pathological liar”, she stated Khan is now not “morally eligible” to carry the workplace of a member of the National Assembly and the prime minister of Pakistan.“Does a liar, incompetent and unqualified person deserve to be the leader of the Pakistani nation?” she requested.In the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, the Supreme Court in July 2017 disqualified Sharif. He was later convicted in two corruption circumstances — Avenfield properties and Al-Azizia — and sentenced to a seven-year jail time period.The PML-N supremo has been dwelling in London since November 2019 after the Lahore High Court granted him permission to go overseas for 4 weeks for therapy.Sharif was declared a proclaimed offender final yr by the Islamabad High Court after he failed to seem earlier than it regardless of a number of warnings.Read | CBDT creates 8 devoted models to lock probe in Panama Papers rip-offRead | Panama Papers return with extra stings, all India must know