Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shahbaz has served a Rs 1 billion defamation notice to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Ismail over his accusations of the former’s involvement in a solar panel business that was benefitting from government policies.
PTI leader Imran Ismail had on July 3 made the accusation in a tweet, wherein he had said, “Instead of improving domestic relations with Turkey, Shahbaz Sharif signed solar energy contracts with his son Suleman Shahbaz during his visit and now solar should be bought from Suleman’s company.”
بجلی بڑھاؤ، لوڈشیڈنگ کرو اور اپنے سولر بیچو شریف خاندان نے تو ملک کو بھی بیچ دیا ہوگا بس ظاہر ہونا باقی ہے شریف خاندان جب بھی اقتدار میں آیا اپنے کاروبار کو ترقی دلائی کیا ملک میں کوئی ایسا ادارہ موجود نہیں جو ان سے پوچھ سکے؟
— Imran Ismail (@ImranIsmailPTI) July 3, 2022
Suleman’s legal team had said that the PTI leader’s claims were ‘far from true’ and their client was not ‘in ownership of a company that sold solar panels’. “Everything in those defamatory tweets is nothing but a pack of lies,” the notice read.
The notice asked Ismail to remover the defamatory tweet, apologize to Suleman on Twitter and in writing, pay a sum of Rs 1 billion in loss and damages, and abstain from any further allegations if he wishes to avoid legal action.
Responding to rumors that the federal government is shifting all public buildings to solar power to benefit the prime minister’s son Suleman Shahbaz, who is allegedly the largest solar panel importer in Pakistan, the Sharif Group of Companies had a day earlier clarified that Suleman is in no way associated with the solar panel business.
A spokesperson for the company denied Suleman’s involvement with any solar power business, and insisted that any such allegations were part of a smear campaign led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social media team against the Sharif family, according to a Samaa TV report.
The Sharif Group spokesperson also said that the company has sought an apology from former Sindh governor and PTI leader Imran Ismail along with the deletion of the tweet.
