UK court tells Adil Raja to apologise, pay damages in defamation case

Former army officer and YouTuber Adil Raja faced another major legal setback as the UK High Court ordered him to publicly apologise to Brigadier (Retd) Rashid Naseer and pay substantial damages and court costs by December 22.

High Court Judge Richard Spearman KC delivered the ruling during a hearing on Monday, turning down Raja’s request to appeal the earlier October judgement, which had already declared his allegations against Brigadier Naseer as “baseless and defamatory.”

The court directed Adil Raja to issue a public apology, which must remain displayed for 28 days across all his platforms, including: Twitter (X), Facebook and YouTube.

The apology will clearly state that the allegations he made were false and that Brigadier Naseer had won the case. Judge Spearman ordered Raja to pay £50,000 in damages and £260,000 in court costs. This brings the immediate total to £310,000, all of which must be paid by December 22.

The court also issued a restraining order, prohibiting Raja from making any further defamatory statements against Brigadier Naseer.

Brigadier (retd) Naseer, who had approached the High Court declaring 10 publications across social media and YouTube as defamatory, was present in court for the decision. Raja’s legal team appeared on his behalf.

In the October judgment, the High Court found that Adil Raja’s allegations—claiming that Brigadier Naseer manipulated the Lahore High Court, bribed politicians to rig elections, misused police authority against PTI candidates, and engaged in horse trading—were entirely unsubstantiated.

The court had then ordered payment of damages and compelled Raja to publish a summary of the judgement acknowledging that his claims were false.

Adil Raja said he intends to take the matter to the Court of Appeal, though his initial appeal request was already rejected by Judge Spearman.

The case marks one of the most high-profile defamation rulings involving a Pakistani social media personality in the UK in recent years, delivering a decisive victory for Brigadier (retd) Rashid Naseer.