A court in Lahore on Saturday deferred the hearing of Rs10 billion defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan until March 14 when the latter’s lawyer presented in the court a copy of the stay granted by the Supreme Court (SC) in the case, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Additional Sessions Judge Yalmaz Ghani adjourned the hearing until the SC’s next order when he was told that Imran’s lawyer had filed two petitions in the SC: one that the additional sessions judge cannot hear the case and second that the sessions court had failed to include two issues, and that an order be given to the court to include these two issues.
The apex court had on February 20, 2026 stayed proceedings in a Rs10 billion defamation suit pending before a trial court in Lahore.
A three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Ayesha A. Malik and comprising Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up a set of review petitions filed by Imran Khan.
The court also issued notice to the respondent (PM Shehbaz), as no one was present from the other side, and directed the office to fix the matter for early hearing.
In his defamation suit filed on July 7, 2017, the prime minister had stated that he did not offer to the PTI founder bribe in return for remaining silent on the Panama Leaks issue.
He had alleged that Imran, by levelling the allegation against him, had brought him into disrepute.
