Senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen has sent defamation notices worth Rs. 1 billion each to TV anchors Waseem Badami and Shahzeb Khanzada. In his view, each of them has made “false imputations” that could cause “serious harm and injury to his reputation”.
Tareen claims that Khanzada's TV show of the 21st of January 2020 wrongly claimed that the PTI financier had an undue influence on the government's policies towards production and trade of sugar. In the notice sent to Khanzada, Tareen objects to being described as part of a “sugar mafia”. The notice states that Tareen cannot influence government decisions because he holds no position in the administration and has no nexus with regulatory bodies.
In the case of Waseem Badami, the notice sent by Tareen objects to him being described as “corrupt”. Earlier, in the context of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2019 report, Badami had commented on his TV show that the Prime Minister had “surrounded himself with corrupt people”.
Jahangir Tareen's legal team has demanded that the anchorpersons concerned must withdraw their statements, apologize publicly and publish the same. Failure to comply would result in legal proceedings under the 2002 Defamation Ordinance, with damages of Rs. 1 billion each being sought.
Tareen claims that Khanzada's TV show of the 21st of January 2020 wrongly claimed that the PTI financier had an undue influence on the government's policies towards production and trade of sugar. In the notice sent to Khanzada, Tareen objects to being described as part of a “sugar mafia”. The notice states that Tareen cannot influence government decisions because he holds no position in the administration and has no nexus with regulatory bodies.
In the case of Waseem Badami, the notice sent by Tareen objects to him being described as “corrupt”. Earlier, in the context of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2019 report, Badami had commented on his TV show that the Prime Minister had “surrounded himself with corrupt people”.
Jahangir Tareen's legal team has demanded that the anchorpersons concerned must withdraw their statements, apologize publicly and publish the same. Failure to comply would result in legal proceedings under the 2002 Defamation Ordinance, with damages of Rs. 1 billion each being sought.