Zulfi’s Legal Win Against Reham is a Panic Button For Bilawal
London High Court Judge Karen Steyn deemed seven publications by Reham as a statement of fact and found her guilty of libel
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zulfi Bukhari has been vindicated by the London High court in a defamation suit against Reham Khan which also an alarm bell for PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The former Adviser to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis had approached the London High Court over eight charges of benefitting from the sale of Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel owned by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in the Reko Diq case.
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The former BBC weather broadcaster Reham had uploaded a YouTube video in December 2019 in which she had alleged that the ex-adviser had a ‘personal interest’ in the sale of the national asset.
She had also posted four tweets in the same context.
In August, the ex-BBC employee had also started a fundraiser to fight the legal battle against the former aide to the prime minister.
To fight for my right to talk about the Roosevelt Hotel case I will need the support of all my friends & followers against Zulfi Bukhari in the London High Court.
Here is the link to my official crowd funding page
Plz donate👇🏼https://t.co/LHTfJoZySl— Reham Khan (@RehamKhan1) August 23, 2020
Zulfi Bukhari’s lawyer told the court that his client’s image and reputation had been tarnished by Reham Khan.
However, she defended the comments in the court maintaining that she raised the matter in the public interest.
She said that her YouTube broadcast was actually aimed at the Aviation department’s task force created to oversee matters pertaining to Roosevelt hotel.
Reham Khan also turned down the charges of defamation as she didn’t use derogatory language and said her objective of raising the issue was achieved and the sale of the national asset was stopped.
After the conclusion of arguments from both parties, Judge Karen Steyn deemed seven publications by Reham as a statement of fact while remaining one as an opinion and found her guilty of libel.
The high court also mentioned the victory of Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman against ARY Channel five years ago.
It said that the case between the media giants had set an example for cases of Urdu language channels in UK’s jurisdiction.
This is the step of victory of Zulfi Bukhari against the former BBC broadcaster as the foreign court has vindicated his stance.
But, the verdict against Reham Khan is a panic button for Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari too as Zulfi Bukhari has also decided to move against him in the London court over his allegations of a covert visit to Israel.
After consulting with my legal team, I’ve decided to move ahead with defamation proceedings against #Bilawal Zardari for his recent irresponsible remarks.
His poor understanding about most things again made him blurt out things fed to him, provoking issues he knows nothing about. pic.twitter.com/e1KnzzpZJA— Sayed Z Bukhari (@sayedzbukhari) July 1, 2021
