Shehbaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and his son-in-law Imran Ali have won the first round of a defamation case against the Daily Mail newspaper for an article ruled by a London court to have contained words that damaged the reputation of the defendants.
Justice Matthew Nicklin of the London High Court on Friday read out an initial ruling in a virtual hearing for the case in favour of both Sharif and Ali.
Justice Nicklin said the words used in the Daily Mail article written by David Rose can be considered slanderous. He said the article against Sharif, former chief minister of Punjab, and Ali was "Chase Level 1 defamation", which means the highest form of defamation. They were declared guilty of corruption on the basis of presumptions while there was no evidence against the two, the judge observed.