LONDON/LAHORE: Counsel for Daily Mail, a British tabloid, failed to woo former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif to settle his defamation suit against the publication out of court, reports citing sources claimed on Tuesday.
A conditional offer to publish an “explanation” of the story was rejected by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president who sought damage compensation, an apology and an explanation, and withdrawal of the news.
However, David Rose, the reporter who filed the article, dismissed reports of an out-of-court settlement.
The publication has two weeks to submit its evidence to the court.
In July 2019, Mail on Sunday published a story about alleged embezzlement of earthquake funds provided by the now-defunct Department for International Development (DFID) for the rehabilitation of the victims, making a case against then-chief minister Shehbaz.
In January last year, Shehbaz filed a defamation suit against the newspaper, the publication, its parent Mail Online, and Rose in the High Court of Justice, London for the publishing the “gravely defamatory” story.
