Daily Mail yet to submit evidence in Shehbaz Sharif’s defamation case

The Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publishers of The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, are yet to submit evidence in Shehbaz Sharif’s defamation case after seven months of delay, reports Murtaza Ali Shah for Geo News.

Earlier this year in February, Justice Sir Matthew Nicklin of the London High Court ruled that the article by reporter David Rose carried the highest level of defamation (Chase level 1 – the highest form of defamation in English law) against both Shehbaz Sharif and his son-in-law Ali Imran Yousaf.

The Daily Mail has asked for three extensions, citing [previous] continuing travel restrictions and Pakistan’s Red listing as its team was unable to visit Pakistan to collect evidence, as per sources. However, now that the ban has been lifted, the Mail’s lawyer’s third extension is going to end in a few days.

In July 2019, renowned media law firm Carter-Ruck sued British newspaper The Mail on Sunday, online news site Mail Online and its journalist David Rose on behalf of Shehbaz Sharif for publishing a “politically motivated” article. The story, published on July 14, 2019, had suggested that Shehbaz and his son-in-law Ali Imran Yousaf “stole British taxpayers’ money” given to Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) set up to help the victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.