Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr. Shahbaz Gill approached a local court today praying for the withdrawal of bailable arrest warrants issued against him for ignoring court orders in a defamation suit.
Shahbaz Gill, through his counsel, submitted that he was unaware of the court orders regarding his representation otherwise him or his counsel would have appeared before it.
His plea came after a local court issued his bailable arrest warrants for ignoring court orders in the defamation suit.
The SAPM was due to appear before the court on Wednesday but neither him nor his counsel did so. The attitude of Gill irked the judge who had expressed serious concerns over the absence of the defendant counsel in the case.
The court directed him to deposit a surety bond of Rs 30,000 and ensure his or his counsel’s appearance before it on November 1.
On Thursday, Gill, through his counsel approached the court and pleaded it to withdraw the arrest warrants and give himself another chance to appear and plead the case.
Gill had levelled serious allegations in September last year against a Turkish company, Platform Turizm Tasimacilik – a subsidiary of Al-Bayrak Group of companies — claiming that it was involved in corruption and preparation of fake documents.
Following his allegation on a TV channel, the Turkish company filed a defamation suit against him through its counsel and sought strict action against him under sections 499 and 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The counsel for the company had argued that that the accusations hurled by the PM’s aide caused a huge financial loss to the company. At this, Shahbaz Gill lodged an FIR against three officials of the same company under fraud and corruption charges but failed to win the case as the court honourably acquitted all three accused in the case.
