Imran Ali Yusuf, a son-in-law of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the one who won the defamation case against Daily Mail, said that the newspaper published fake news when there was a reign of oppression in Pakistan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.
“The news published against Shehbaz Sharif was fully planned. Being Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law, I was also dragged into it,” he stated.
“The false and baseless allegations could not be proved. The newspaper [then] apologised and removed the [fake] news from its website,” he added.
“We have a real estate business. Ikram Naveed bought the property from us. Until then, we knew not whether Ikram Naveed’s money was legal or illegal. There is no culture in Pakistan of inquiring into one person’s money,” he emphasised.
“After three years, Ikram Naveed was arrested on the orders of Shehbaz Sharif. If I had a connivance with him, why would he have been arrested,” he pointed out.
“When the inquiries against Ikram Naveed were initiated, his corruption was revealed. The credit of his arrest goes to Shehbaz Sharif,” he stated.
“Ikram Naveed bought properties from 40 to 41 builders. I was one of those who sold him properties. My only fault was that I was Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law,” he deplored.
“The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has reached an agreement with everyone, but our money still lies in the account. It is clear who were involved in this matter. I will grab them by the necks on the Day of Judgment,” he added.
“For the first time in history, a British newspaper has apologised to Pakistan’s prime minister. This apology has endorsed the integrity of Shehbaz Sharif,” he stressed.
“I have a long relationship with Barrister Waheedur Rehman. I had a blind faith in him that he would fight my case on merit. Waheed asked for all the evidence before fighting the case and took the case after being satisfied,” Imran Ali Yusuf claimed.
“As soon as the case started, the Daily Mail started offering a settlement out of the court. We rejected three or four of their offers, but then agreed on some conditions,” he added.
“It was very painful to be falsely accused. The entire government of Imran Khan was looking for something against the Sharif family. He will have to answer to Allah for the pain he caused us,” he averred.
It is to be noted here that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) removed Waheedur Rehman from the post of Deputy Secretary of PTI’s Office of International Chapters (OIC) for representing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law in the Daily Mail case.