Azma Bukhari wins defamation case against Moeen Qureshi, tribunal orders Rs3mn in damages

The Lahore Defamation Tribunal has ordered Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Moeen Riaz Qureshi to pay Rs3 million in damages to Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari over allegations he made against her during a television programme.

In a short order, the tribunal ruled in Bukhari’s favour in the defamation suit, in which she had sought Rs84 million. The detailed judgment will be issued later and is expected to explain the reasoning and the basis of the damages awarded.

Bukhari, represented by lawyer Ali Bukhari, had maintained that the allegations were false, fabricated and aimed at damaging her reputation. According to the tribunal’s observations, Qureshi admitted making the statements on the programme, which aired on a private channel. The tribunal said he failed to produce evidence to support his position or establish a defence, and that his lawyers were unable to disprove her claims.

The suit stemmed from remarks Qureshi made about the then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s Sohail Afridi visit to the Punjab Assembly. He had alleged that Bukhari arranged for between 150 and 200 paid individuals to enter the assembly premises during the visit, and that the journalists who questioned Afridi were her paid employees.

Bukhari denied the claims, calling them entirely false and a deliberate, malicious attempt to undermine her credibility. She then approached the tribunal under the Defamation Act, seeking damages for harm to her reputation.